Cynicism comes easily these days...

[elfs]

This morning on the train, I sat across from a signficantly heavyset woman who was feeding her toddling child breakfast. The breakfast consisted mostly of yogurt, which is a pretty good breakfast to get into a toddler, although this was one of those high-sugar varieties. The kid also had a sippy cup full of water, and she was drinking it readily.

Then the mother took out her breakfast: A Starbucks grande caramel frappucino (410 calories, 13 teaspoons of sugar, 15gms of fat), followed by two Pizza Hut fast-food breadsticks (280 calories) slathered in ranch dressing.

I try not to be cynical. I really do. Maybe that's not her usual breakfast; maybe it was an emergency buy on her way out the door. Certainly my own breakfast wasn't much healthier today, since I had my own on-the-go buy of drip coffee (55 calories) and a fast-food sausage sandwich (460 calories, 10gms saturated fat), too.

But it was the badge she wore that caught my eye. A "guest pass" from a local charity food bank. Not "volunteer" or "staff." She spent at least ten dollars on breakfast, but she's headed into the city, and sure enough, she got off at the stop where the food bank is headquartered. With her guest pass.

I'm still trying not to be cynical.