I just need to frikkin eat!!!

I left my mom's place today with a mission to find a good brekky restaurant. I've been a bit of a hermit lately, so I figured this would motivate me to get out of the house.

I jumped on public transportation and headed to a small diner I had been to before in the Pearl District. It was kinda late for brekky, but their web site said they were open until 3pm, so I figured I was well within Brekky Range. Alas no. During the week they serve eggs and their kin only until 11am. Waaaah!!! So I left and started walking back south towards downtown. I figured I would come across another option sooner or later.

Well, PF Chang's came up and I decided chinese food was as good as an omelet at this point. I went in and ordered some food to go. They said it would take 15 minutes, so I said I would be back for the food.

I left and aimed for Powell's, which was a risk as I'm not sure I can do only 15 minutes at Powell's. At the corner there were four folks from Mercy Corps. I figured I had nothing to lose - I don't live here anymore so I have a ready "out" if they want signatures or something. So I stopped and talked to one guy.

It started out ok. He asked what I knew about Mercy Corps then filled me in on what they do. And they do some good things. They work to establish local resources in the areas where they go. Need a doctor in Uganda? They don't ship one in from Europe or the US, they get the resources to have a local (or regional) doctor set up to work where it is needed. Nice. And, he said, he wasn't out on a street corner in the rain to ask people for money today. Rather he was asking for people to offer resources.

Resources. That usually means money. So I told him my deal - I'm living in Mexico, I'm trying to make a living on what I earn there, I'm here just to rent out my house, money isn't an option as a resource from me. That usually shuts them up. They might ask what I'm doing in Mexico, or share some Mexico/travelling experience of their own. But they usually understand that they should stop asking me for money.

Not this guy. He kept prattling on about how people don't always realize that it can be a really small gesture on their part that makes a big difference to the people on the receiving end. For example, if you committ to giving up one of your two daily lattes, you can put that money into a jar and at the end of the month you have a huge donation. Or have one less drink in a bar on the weekends. Or walk instead of taking a cab. We can all find little things in our lives that we can live without, he said.

Ok. Maybe I didn't explain myself. I'm living in Mexico. Small town Mexico. I already live without most of the stuff this guy mentioned. We don't have cafes or movie theatres; there are cabs in town, but I have a car; I don't really drink in bars these days. There is very little left for me to "give up".

I guess he didn't believe me because he started to use some examples that were a bit closer to home. "It doesn't have to be a big thing, maybe making a few dollars off your renters, or having one less margarita on the beach...."

I almost slugged him. What the hell does he know of my life? He's judging me because I'm walking down the street in the ritzy Pearl District, wearing a nice velvet scarf (inherited from my grandmother, thankyouverymuch), and I own a house here. He assumes that I can somehow find something in Mexico that is extraneous, that is some luxury that I can cut back on. He has no idea how much I don't have access to just by virtue of being in Mexico, by virtue of living in a small town there.

I finally got him to lose interest in me somehow and headed for Powell's. I had given up on going back to PF Chang's for the food I had ordered. I hadn't paid for it, so I wasn't losing anything. And I just couldn't stand the idea of having to walk back by this well-meaning asshole with food to go from PF Chang's.

So I kept walking south, hoping to come across some tasty restaurant. It was way past brekky time, so I ended up going to Safeway and buying eggs, going home and cooking myself a scramble with spinich, mushrooms and broccoli. Not quite as satisfying, but brekky all the same.