Why I love lentils

There is this guy, a friend of me, to whom I like a lot to talk. He has some good stories, and today I would like to share one of them with you all.

That day, we met after work to drink some beers and eat something while talking about anything. We usually talk about technology, about job, a little bit about politics.

So that night we were talking, and he came with this question: "You know what is my favorite dish?". Of course I replied "no, which one is it?". He said "Lentils, wanna know why?". I nodded.

He changed his expression, and looked at me seriously and started his story. "When I was a kid, my parents were not in a good situation. Economically speaking. So this day, when my father had traveled to town some time ago looking for a job, me and my brothers were working at the family small farm. We worked hard all day with no lunch. We had run out of supplies and my father was supposed to arrive, with the new stock of supplies". We usually take for granted, that all of us have hot water when we open the tap, don't even think about food in our tables.

He continued "The evening came, and we have no news about my father. And as we were all tired, not only hungry my mother sent us to bed on an empty stomach. Later that night my father finally arrived from his trip, with supplies. She cooked some lentils and wake us up" at that point I already knew why lentils was his favorite dish, but didn't want to interrupt him, so he continued. "When I smelled the food, and then when I saw the lentils on the table, I thought I was dreaming, damn that was the best food in my life".

That day I realized how fortunate I've been for not being in that situation, not even one time in my life. Lots of times we undervalue the things we have, and take for granted that we'll have a job, we'll have food in our tables and we'll have everything we need. But that is not the case for every person in the world.

So the next time that you may get mad or simply may lose your mood, just because something is not the way you want, or because you are stuck in the traffic, think about all those people with real problems.

One more thing, I did not focus the story from the point of view of my friend, I managed to put me in the shoes of her mother, that is the point of view that makes you, realize how fortunate you may be.