The Older You Get.....The Cheaper You Get

I guess it's kind of an old saying and we all know it's true. The more birthdays you see, the more frugal you tend to be. I always just thought of it as a saying. But I'm now realizing it's completely true. It could probably be scientifically proven.

I got a phone call from my grandmother. She's urkranian so we call her Baba and we call my grandfather Gido. Of course the only reason she ever calls is to tell me someone has died. I usually don't care because I've never met my poor, distantly related dead family member. This week it was Aunt Margret with the mouth to the side. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly crushed. After an hour and a half of Baba explaining how Aunt Margret is related to me, she finally gets to the point and annouces her and Gido will be in the city tomorrow and would like to take me out for supper.

So the next day we meet at our local Smity's restaurant. If your over sixty and single, that is the place to be at four o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon. We eat supper and converse about this and that. I hear the story of how Baba removed her Christmas carols from her hymn book and made a separate book. (It's just not necessary to carry those with you all year round, you know.) Well the book was bound on the wrong side and someone was very upset about it.

We get through supper and move on to dessert. I notice how every last piece of their food is completely cleaned of their plates. Never mind the fact that they are stuffed and ready to explode. Nothing goes to waste. The desserts that came with their meals are half-eaten and then boxed up because "someone will eat them later." Even the hard crust from my apple pie made it's way into the box. "Put it in here. There's nothing wrong with that." I'm forced to eat the last bite despite my protests.

I begin to realize how spoiled I am. My Baba and Gido grew up in a world where they were never sure where the next meal was coming from. I'm soo blessed to not have to worry about those sort of things. But never the less, I'm still embarrassed when Baba snatches my plate back from the waitress and throws the left over fries in the take-out box. "They'll just throw them out!" Hey, I guess Baba did pay for them.

Moral of the story: Waste not, want not...Someone will eat it....