Dollar Tree was the closest we had to a grocery store. We bought eggs, milk, and peanut butter to get through the month. On good tip weeks, Mama drove to the Piggly Wiggly in the next town, purchased 100% beef hotdogs, and Bush’s baked beans. We ate Beans and Franks only on special occasions.
Then city council voted to build a strip mall where the BP once stood. There was room for three businesses, but we only cared for the one advertising the best Franks in town.
Mama slid the crumpled bills across the counter. “Three hotdogs all the way.”
word count: 100
—Nortina
Friday Fictioneers is a weekly challenge where you must write a story in 100 words or less using the provided photo prompt as inspiration. Click the froggy icon to ready other stories and add your own.
Great story. It’s very interesting to see how different cultures deal with poverty. This diet doesn’t sound very appealing to me.
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Yes, it teaches you to cherish what you do have, because you could easily have nothing. I think I could eat beans & franks every day. 😉 Thanks for reading!
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A wonderful vignette on growing up happy if not wealthy.
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This reminds me of growing up. McDonald’s was a BIG treat for us but my little brother didn’t like it he only liked hot dogs. There was a restaurant next to McDonald’s that served them. We would go to McDonalds and get our food then take it over to the other place and eat it with my little brother and his hot dog.
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😀 That sounds so much like my family! My little brother always had to be different. While everyone else was eating KFC, he just had to have Chinese!
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LOL..so funny!
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The world of the narrator is convincingly built. Great descriptive details, and the mother’s strength and optimism are wonderful.
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Thanks!
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Dear Nortina,
You are indeed a storyteller. A lot said in few words. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you 🙂
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This is why we should all appreciate how lucky we all are to not be worried about being able to fulfil our basic human needs.
Very Good story.
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Exactly. When so many people are satisfied with little to nothing, who are we to complain about what we have or don’t have?
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We were four on a very limited income for awhile and I came up with a bean, rice, and hamburger combination the family still asks me for. You’re right, we do appreciate it more when there’s so little. Wonderful piece!
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Thanks! It’s crazy the amazing meals you can create with very little food. That bean, rice, and hamburger dish already sounds delicious!
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Great writing! This is about as real as it gets.
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A poverty-ridden childhood is not necessarily a bad thing. I fed my family on very little and macaroni cheese was often on the menu. For birthday treats we went out for a pizza – real Italian style!
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The best meals come out of nothing. When I was a kid, there were so many nights when we had fried spam with BBQ sauce and Ramon noodles for dinner. So poor, but so good!
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Another nicely written piece.
Would love your thoughts on my latest article: https://rinsebeforeuse.wordpress.com/2015/06/25/deal-breakers/
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I’ve never known hunger. This is a good reminder.
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It definitely teaches you to appreciate the little you do have. Thanks for reading.
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Very well written – I love the crumpled bill too! Brings back memories of when we first got married – we ate beans every day – and then on the weekends went to our parents for a hot dog or hamburger – we enjoyed (really we did) those days! Nan
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Hotdogs and hamburgers at mom and dad’s? Who wouldn’t enjoy that! Thanks for reading 🙂
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Hmm. What mattered to them stayed the same, even when the place changed.
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I would say the moral is to appreciate what little you have.
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I’m curious, is the phrase ‘all the way’ intended as the same as ‘with the works’?
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Hmm… possibly. Does ‘with the works’ mean with everything on it? If so, then yes. 🙂
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Ahh, the cultural divide spelled out in hotdog topping language.
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The ‘crumpled bill’ says it all….Good one.
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This is great! Reminds me a lot of my childhood except back then there were no Dollar Stores or Dollar Tree stores. We ate macaroni and cheese 4 nights a week, beans 3 nights a week and occasionally we got to have fried chicken or pepper steak (made with round steak). Our biggest treat was when mom would make banana pudding. Loved your story!
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Thanks. I find that it’s often when you don’t have much that the meals are the most satisfying. 🙂
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Absolutely! I still love macaroni cheese to this day. However, beans, not so much. LOL
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Yes, beans don’t always agree with one’s stomach. 😉
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True! I do eat a lot of beans, but not plain beans. I have to have them in another food like Chile. We have a huge business here that the Navajo Indians own and operate. They grow a lot of different foods to ship all over the country. One thing they grow is Pinto Beans and I will buy a 50 lb. bag from them every year. Pinto beans taste so much better when you can buy them fresh from the farm.
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