Breakfast Sandwich-- May 28th, 2014

Today I went to the dentist. She’s really nice. Short, spiky hair and bright blue eyes. One of those people you instantly know is intelligent, not because of the lab coat or stethoscope but because of her eyes.

Anyway, she and the hygienist were having a conversation over my head (literally, not metaphorically—it was about sandwiches) while they sanded my teeth. They were talking about The Working Mom’s Dilemma of getting food on the table in the time crunch between returning home and dinnertime. The dentist had explained how she’d returned home and to her surprise re-discovered that she’d put a pot roast in for tonight. “It smelled so good,” she invited us to admire. And we did. We couldn’t help but share her joy at the pot roast.

The hygienist was in a pickle. Soccer practice for her daughter began at 6:30 and she wouldn’t be home ‘till 5, so Maggie would have to have a sandwich, and the hygienist guessed she’d scrounge something up for herself.

“That’s the worst,” commiserated the dentist.
Maybe they’d go grab subway on the way. Or Jimmijohns. And then the conversation was deafened as the drill began, so I missed out on the intricacies of why Jimmijohns was inferior to subway, but when the drilling ceased, the dentist included me in the discussion by asking what my favorite sandwich was at Jimmijohns. “I have no idea.” Blank faces. “I mean, I’ve only eaten there once, and it was a really long time ago…” “What about subway?” she asked, hoping there was still some commonality between us. “I don’t go out to eat often. Poor college student, you know…” I tried to laugh it off.

I have no idea when the last time I went out to eat was. I don’t even know exactly how much I spend on groceries per week, but I’m guessing it’s around 10-15, and that’s if I’m cooking for others. Yesterday I splurged on raspberries, fresh rosemary, fenneungreek and mushrooms—all for only a dollar each. I eat some form of legume at least once a day, usually making my entire meal out of some combination of lentils, kale and balsamic vinegar. I make sure to leave every babysitting gig completely full, and often I stash snacks from my parent’s house in my backpack. I covet the empty beer bottles my housemates leave behind, dashing off with them to Meijer to get my ten cents in return. I stood in line today for over fifteen minutes at the customer service center because the machine wouldn’t recognize five of my bottles. All for fifty cents. The idea of spending five dollars a day on food is so foreign to me. 

But the disparity between our income levels was not as evident to the dentist, who in vain was trying to include me still. She chatted about her daughter’s gift to her (with “her very own spending money!” I wish I had that, too.) of a breakfast sandwich maker, which cooked an egg and fried a patty at the same time to create an all-in-one sandwich. Not only did this sound completely unappetizing to me, but the price tag (“Only around twenty or thirty dollars”) put me off as well. “You should really look into that!” “Yeah, maybe!” I said, feeling more commitment was required on my part.

I really like this dentist. She’s intelligent and good at what she does. I didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable. But I left the office rather dazed. Not that I was surprised a dentist can afford to eat out at subway regularly. But that she had no idea what it was like to not be able to do that kind of thing. As if a breakfast sandwich maker was something more in my budget.

//Update

Yesterday I bought a $10 pint of ice cream. 

My, how times have changed.