Alice sat quietly on the living room rug playing with her dolls which were sitting around a little table. Tiny teacups were placed on saucers. The tea party had a few small bowls placed in the center of the little table. The bowls were filled with candy corn and Hershey’s kisses- Halloween leftovers. Marvin sat reading his paper in his Lazy Boy. A fresh brewed cup of coffee hit the spot. He thought- “Norman Rockwell could paint this if he were alive. It’s true iconic Americana.”
The dolls apparently were having a conversation which was too soft to hear. However, Marvin could hear Alice’s voice quietly changing in tone and accent as each doll spoke. He proudly thought his daughter was so clever that she might be headed for a successful acting career.
Marvin wondered what this cast of dolls was talking about. He soon found out as Alice turned to her father. “Daddy, Mary wants to know why there are so many poor children just staring at the camera. They are small and thin and they look sad. She saw them on TV.” Alice added, “Why don’t they eat, Daddy? Don’t they like their Mommy’s cooking?”
Marvin thought “Their Mommy is probably dead” but the words stayed safely in his head. He reached for his coffee cup and slipped slowly, buying some time before answering. “Well, Alice, some people just don’t have enough money for food.” She thought for a few seconds. “Can’t they go to McDonalds and get a Happy Meal?” Marvin responded. “I’m afraid they don’t have enough money for even McDonalds. And I don’t think there is a McDonalds anywhere near them.” Alice quietly pondered that shocking truth as she returned to the Tea party. The dolls resumed their discussion.
Alice turned again to her father. “Linda wants to know why we can’t just give them some of our food so they won’t be hungry anymore.” After a few sips of his coffee he responded. “Well, that’s a good idea except they live far away from here and we can’t send them food.” Alice continued. “Heather says we could send the food by Amazon. It usually gets there the next day.” … “Alice, I’m afraid these children live in remote places, with no airport nearby. They also don’t have Amazon.” Marvin hoped she would drift away from this topic. “I’m going to the kitchen to make another pot of coffee. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
After nearly five minutes he returned with another steaming cup of coffee. He assumed Alice would move onto other topics. Maybe she’ll say “Heather needs a new dress.” Anything would be preferable to talking about war and famine. But he was mistaken. “Daddy, Melinda says there’s a lot of fighting where those children live so they can’t get food. Is that true? Why are they fighting?”
Marvin took a couple of breaths, had a sip of coffee and said- “Yes, I’m afraid that’s true. When people spend time fighting they don’t have time for farming and cooking things.” Seeing her lower her head and frown he added- “But maybe there will be a good harvest this summer and they’ll just want to eat rather than fight.” He hoped he wouldn’t have to talk about how many children will die along with their parents. That dreaded talk about where babies come from is beginning to look like a better alternative to this.
After Marvin’s returning from a bathroom break Alice continued. “Betty wants to know why are they fighting,” Marvin sighed. Maybe it’s time for a little reality. “Alice, people fight because they want to take somebody’s house and their food. They are bad people and they don’t care if other people get hurt.” … “Shouldn’t they have a time out in their room until they behave?” She had a good point in a way. How do you tell a child that we don’t send an army there because they don’t have oil, gold or rare minerals for computer chips. Or that we are too focused on selling dozens of brands of cereal, cookies, snacks and fruit juices to worry about children in Africa. Alice had a few tears on her cheek. She came over and sat on Marvin’s lap.
“Daddy, I’m sad. Can’t you fix it?” He was stuck now. “That’s a big problem, Alice. Let me think about that and we can talk about it tomorrow. Can I join your party and have some tea and a Hershey kiss?” She nodded and took his hand. He hoped that would be the end of it. While sipping his tea his mind actually did think about it. He was sad too. Alice was right.
We should do something to fix it. .