Woe is Katie for lost meals

By Katie Williams
Collegian Editor
October 4, 2006

In an ideal world, I’d wake up every morning at 11 a.m., walk downstairs to my living room, grab a big bowl of cereal and turn on the TV. The Asian Variety Show would be on every morning, not just on Saturdays, and I’d spend a half hour or more watching it before it was time for me to shower and officially begin my day.

They, the TV moguls, would always be playing one of my favorite movies. Maybe it would be the family comedy about a couple and their adorable children who sing good morning to each other with the help of a grotesque six foot tall Mickey Mouse.

In a perfect world I’d prepare myself some Raisin Brain with a freshly cut banana on the side. I’d pour a big glass of apple juice, sit down in a comfy chair and watch the beautiful Bollywood stars dance and sing away their troubles.

But this is not a perfect world. In the real world, I wake up at 9:50 a.m., rush to get to the shower before my housemates, rush to get dressed, rush to proofread all the papers I was too tired to finish last night and then desperately rush to get to the Communication Center from the townhouses in 10 minutes (for those of you who’ve never had to try this, it is virtually impossible).

Some days, I’m lucky. I don’t have any papers to look over, so I have an extra five minutes to dig through my cabinets and find my box of Nutri-Grain Bars. I eat one on my way to class, trying to avoid the looks on the faces of the people I pass, all of them thinking how uncivilized I must be for eating and walking at the same time.

Most days though, I go unfed until the free period, at which point I scarf down chicken fingers and cheese fries or a cheesesteak or some other unhealthy delight the Union serves. They’re tasty, yes, but I doubt highly that the cheese sauce is really giving me my required dose of calcium for the day.

I envy people who have time for breakfast. Each morning, on my daily run, I imagine what could be. I can see the brilliant yellow of the banana, its different slices often arranged in a smiley face on my plate, a brief reassurance that I deserve naught but smiles and sunshine in an otherwise hectic world. I can hear the delightful sound of milk hitting the flakes and raisins in my Care Bears bowl. And I can taste the breakfast, phantom deliciousness in my mouth.

williamsk1@lasalle.edu