Waste not II

Two pairs of little skinny legs could be seen hanging out of a large dumpster, as I walked by, on my way home. It was a sunny bright Saturday, and I had gone to a restaurant close to the house, to pick up lunch for my mom and I.

These two children were on the verge of falling inside that nasty thing. Holding on to the metal border with one hand only, they were digging inside the container full of stinky trash. More than half their bodies in, those little legs were literally sticking out.

- What are you doing? Would you get out of there right now?!!!

And off they came, startled, in a hurry!  Two boys. I would assume one would be around six years old, and the other a little older. Malnourished children do not show their ages. They were wearing little shorts only, barefooted and no shirts.

Cute little brats.

- What were you doing in that nasty disgusting thing? I asked, pretending to be angry at them, making myself sound as authoritarian as I could. I most certainly knew the answer, though.

When you grow up in a country like mine, where social discrepancies are close to absurd, you soon learn that poverty is a common thing. And so is hunger. And so is trash digging.

- We were looking for something to eat, the older one replied quite humbly. And both of them immediately looked at the bag I was carrying. The smell of food could have reached a hungry child's nose a mile away!

- In that stinky crap? You could get very sick eating from a trash like that!

- Yes, ma'am. The little one said, and both of them seemed a bit scared.

No, I was not torturing the boys. I was only trying to scare them away from the dumpster.

The restaurant I mentioned was just around the corner, and I knew the owner. He was a very sweet young man. The food was good.

- You are both going to sit over there, and wait for me. I said as I pointed to a little retaining wall by the side of a garden.

- Do you hear me? You are going to wait right there!

- Yes, ma'am. A bit more relaxed, probably already feeling I was going to provide something for them, both ran to the spot, sat down and started swinging their legs, hands on their laps.

Cute little brats!

And I went back to the restaurant. And I came back with two "to go" Styrofoam containers with the same food mom and I were having for lunch. And plastic forks. And spoons.

The boys were there. They looked at each other, and started giggling. The legs still swinging, and now little butts squirming too.

I handed the food to them, and stood there for a while just to see their faces as they opened it. Oh, the smell was good and steam was coming out of those deep "plates".

I found a picture on the net just to give you an idea of how these things are, back in the country:

It is plenty of food, I'd say.

The boys pulled the lids off. The smile on their faces was worth a million dollars!!

So, all of a sudden, the older one says:

- Wow!! Dona... (Ma'am)  A lunch like this one sure would go well with a Coca-Cola!! Oh, YES! It would taste even better with an ice cold Coca-Cola!!

- Oh, yesssssssssssss!  the other one replied, as both stared at me.

After giving him the money for the Cokes, waiting for him to come back with them, I left laughing my skinny ass off.

They were hungry but not dumb!