Meep, meep, meep...
The faint sound of the alarm clock going off, grew louder and louder with the recognition that comes from a mind being jarred out of blissful sleep into woeful consciousness. I got up to turn off the alarm (a way that I trick myself into getting out of bed and not going back to sleep) and looked at the time -- five in the morning. It was way too early for a Saturday, but I had a mission to accomplish and, like the Dunkin’ Donuts guy, nothing, not even the desire for sleep, was going to stand in my way. Especially since it wasn’t time to make the donuts, it was -- time to get the TAMALES.
Yes, tamales. God’s most perfect food, and one of the things that makes Christmas in SA-Town, Christmas. I knew that I had to get to the Tamale place early, because the lines start forming at around six at Delicious Tamales (some places have people in line as early as three or four am). When I pulled into the parking lot, I was happy to see there were only about 15 people ahead of me. Since the tamales are fist come first serve, the only way to guarantee that you can get the flavors you want is to be towards the head of the line.
The line stood in silent vigil waiting for a turn to make their request at the counter. As the doors opened and the air was filled with the unmistakable smell of steamed masa and shredded pork, the line surged forward and snaked into the front door. By this time about twenty more people had shown up and taken their place behind me. Slowly one by one the orders where filled. Ten dozen bean here and fifteen dozen pork there, one by one each person made their petition, was served and then walked out with armfuls of grease stained brown paper bags.
I finally reached the counter and only two people stood between me and my booty, when it happened. The counter lady said, “we only have pork left.” Curses -- I had planned on getting a dozen chicken, a dozen bean (for my vegetarian friend), a dozen jalapeno, and two dozen pork. I overheard the customer ahead of me ask, “are you sure you don’t have anything else?” The clerk moved her head in recognition of the question and then swiftly walked over to the piles of tamale packages stacked on stainless steel tables behind the counter. It an instant she was back and told the customer, “We have five [dozen] chicken left.”
My glimmer of hope at partially filling my desired order was dashed by my fellow patron as she said under her breath (I think she was scared of the reaction of the other customers), “I’ll take all five dozen chicken and ten dozen pork.” I looked at this woman in horror and disbelief of her avarice. She took all five dozen of the chicken and didn’t even consider leaving some for the others in line. The greedy woman snatched up her hoard and quickly high-stepped out the door.
After I filled my order [I ended up getting three dozen pork, one dozen bean (they had some frozen in the back), and one dozen jalapeno (another restaurant in the same shopping strip was selling tamales -- although they were not as good as delicious)]...I pondered the actions of this mysterious female tamale hoarder who had single handedly wiped out the entire chicken supply.
The more I think about her actions the more I believe that this attitude (‘I have to get mine first and to heck with everyone else’ -- as exhibited by the female tamale hoarder and the rest of America, myself included) is the cause of poverty around the world.
In the book God’s Politics Jim Wallis does a great job of reminding those who seek God, that the economically poor are our responsibility. The economically poor ARE OUR responsibility, because God loves them AND because we [those of us who are not poor] are the ones responsible for creating poverty in the first place.
[Read the 15th chapter of Deuteronomy , paying particular attention to verses 4-27 for an example of how poverty is created by greed in an abundant nation -- isn’t interesting that so many who draw a correlation between the ancient nation of Israel and the US in regards to the state of being “blessed” to not speak as passionately about using those blessings to bless others?]
We create poverty through the economic theory of supply and demand (the less there is the more it costs and vice versa). In free market countries, shortages are often artificially created in order to drive up prices so that those who have the supply make more money. Christmas is a great example of the application of artificial shortage as companies jockey to create the ‘must have item’ of the holiday so that parents will shell out wads of cash for their already spoiled children. This year the XBox 360 seemed to be the must have item since they were selling for as much as $1,000 (MSRP - $300 to $600) on Ebay once other stores had run out.
Which brings me back to the MFTH and the five dozen chicken tamales. As consumers we have bought into the lie. We have been conditioned to believe that there really isn’t enough to go around, so we better get what we can while we can or else we will have to go without and God forbid that we should have to go without anything. That is why people are willing to pay hundareds of dollars more than the MSRP of a product or take all five dozen chicken tamales when they could have done just as well with one dozen. This is also why, in a country that throws away enough food to feed the world, there are people starving.
I am praying that my family and I can break the cycle. There is plenty to go around and if there isn’t, I would rather someone else get it. If you pray, I would ask that you pray for my family and me as we attempt to de-program our minds no longer buy into (pun intended) the lies of scarcity, and greed.
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