The day after Thanksgiving when we have just partaken of the biggest feast of the year is the only time to tell this story...
Scott was in law school in Moscow, Idaho. We had two babies, a beautiful condo - cheap because it was in Moscow, Idaho - and $50.00 a week. That's $50.00 a week for everything; groceries, gas, diapers, everything. It cost $12.00 to fill up our car, our beloved Volkswagen Fox that made a deafening squealing noise whenever it went over 30 MPH. Oh, and we also had cable for nine bucks a month because someone came door-to-door on a Thursday night and promised us we could watch Friends right then if we signed up. We were weak. Cable was quite a luxury, but so worth it on Must-See Thursdays! For entertainment when it wasn't Thursday night, the babies and I roamed the aisles of Wal-Mart. Every couple of months I got Golda and Ruby all dressed up and sprung for the $1.99 picture packet provided by the itinerant Wal-Mart photog. We never fell for the expensive extra pictures, just the one pose that came with the $1.99 deal. Those pictures were our big splurge.
It was the cable TV that led to the Pizza Hut Incident. Pizza Hut kept running an ad for its BIG New York Style pizza. The whole point of the ad was how BIG it was. I can't remember what it was called; BIG something. It looked huge on our little TV, and so cheesy and delicious. But it was $9.99, so it was way out of our budget. Pizza Hut kept bombarding us with picture of that giant, steaming hot pizza, and our toast and Ramen was just getting more and more pathetic. We finally cracked. We called Pizza Hut and ordered the BIG pizza. Our rationale was that the pizza was SO BIG that we'd have leftovers, so it would be totally worth it!
When at last we opened that coveted Pizza Hut box, the pizza...wasn't that big. It was an average sized pizza. Average! I started to cry. Our ten bucks was gone and the pizza we got in exchange was tiny. We were so upset that we called the national Pizza Hut phone number. Bawling, I explained that we had scrimped and saved and at last we had enough money for a BIG New York pizza and it just wasn't big at all. I detailed my devastation until the guy on the phone agreed to send us a coupon for $9.99 as an apology for selling us a pizza that didn't live up to the hype. I didn't think they really would, but a week later, we got a gift certificate in the mail for ten bucks at Pizza Hut. We went and got another BIG New York Style pizza and somehow it tasted a lot more satisfying than the first one. The Pizza Hut Corporation was our new best friend!
It sounds like a small thing (like the BIG pizza) but I still feel the sting of tears when I think about that pizza because it brings back all the feelings of worry, wanting and shame of not having enough. We never went hungry, we were never truly desperate, but I remember well that my dream in life was to go to the grocery store and buy anything I wanted. Many people are lacking, all over the world, every day. Some never have enough to fill their bellies, let alone a hot pizza. It was shortly after the Pizza Hut Incident that Zeljko came to live with us as a refugee from the war in Kosovo. He had known true hunger. He told us about his family having only one block of cheese and some peaches they had grown to eat for the whole month. That's it. His dad was a chemical engineer, but the company wasn't always able to pay. From Zeljko's perspective, the 30 or 40 dollars a week worth of groceries we bought was ample for all five of us, and he was right. In a way, Zeljko saved us from our feelings of poverty with just his attitude.
Now, years later, though we're not fabulously wealthy, Scott and I can sometimes buy anything we want at the store. I never quite stop being grateful for that. And every time I casually order a David's Pizza without worrying about how big it is or isn't, I remember that I am very blessed.
Scott was in law school in Moscow, Idaho. We had two babies, a beautiful condo - cheap because it was in Moscow, Idaho - and $50.00 a week. That's $50.00 a week for everything; groceries, gas, diapers, everything. It cost $12.00 to fill up our car, our beloved Volkswagen Fox that made a deafening squealing noise whenever it went over 30 MPH. Oh, and we also had cable for nine bucks a month because someone came door-to-door on a Thursday night and promised us we could watch Friends right then if we signed up. We were weak. Cable was quite a luxury, but so worth it on Must-See Thursdays! For entertainment when it wasn't Thursday night, the babies and I roamed the aisles of Wal-Mart. Every couple of months I got Golda and Ruby all dressed up and sprung for the $1.99 picture packet provided by the itinerant Wal-Mart photog. We never fell for the expensive extra pictures, just the one pose that came with the $1.99 deal. Those pictures were our big splurge.
It was the cable TV that led to the Pizza Hut Incident. Pizza Hut kept running an ad for its BIG New York Style pizza. The whole point of the ad was how BIG it was. I can't remember what it was called; BIG something. It looked huge on our little TV, and so cheesy and delicious. But it was $9.99, so it was way out of our budget. Pizza Hut kept bombarding us with picture of that giant, steaming hot pizza, and our toast and Ramen was just getting more and more pathetic. We finally cracked. We called Pizza Hut and ordered the BIG pizza. Our rationale was that the pizza was SO BIG that we'd have leftovers, so it would be totally worth it!
When at last we opened that coveted Pizza Hut box, the pizza...wasn't that big. It was an average sized pizza. Average! I started to cry. Our ten bucks was gone and the pizza we got in exchange was tiny. We were so upset that we called the national Pizza Hut phone number. Bawling, I explained that we had scrimped and saved and at last we had enough money for a BIG New York pizza and it just wasn't big at all. I detailed my devastation until the guy on the phone agreed to send us a coupon for $9.99 as an apology for selling us a pizza that didn't live up to the hype. I didn't think they really would, but a week later, we got a gift certificate in the mail for ten bucks at Pizza Hut. We went and got another BIG New York Style pizza and somehow it tasted a lot more satisfying than the first one. The Pizza Hut Corporation was our new best friend!
It sounds like a small thing (like the BIG pizza) but I still feel the sting of tears when I think about that pizza because it brings back all the feelings of worry, wanting and shame of not having enough. We never went hungry, we were never truly desperate, but I remember well that my dream in life was to go to the grocery store and buy anything I wanted. Many people are lacking, all over the world, every day. Some never have enough to fill their bellies, let alone a hot pizza. It was shortly after the Pizza Hut Incident that Zeljko came to live with us as a refugee from the war in Kosovo. He had known true hunger. He told us about his family having only one block of cheese and some peaches they had grown to eat for the whole month. That's it. His dad was a chemical engineer, but the company wasn't always able to pay. From Zeljko's perspective, the 30 or 40 dollars a week worth of groceries we bought was ample for all five of us, and he was right. In a way, Zeljko saved us from our feelings of poverty with just his attitude.
Now, years later, though we're not fabulously wealthy, Scott and I can sometimes buy anything we want at the store. I never quite stop being grateful for that. And every time I casually order a David's Pizza without worrying about how big it is or isn't, I remember that I am very blessed.
9 comments:
Great story. Perspective is priceless, isn't it? (Too bad we can't give that as Christmas gifts, right? I'd give a huge helping to the Wal-mart pepper spray lady. How shameful.)
So beautiful Circ. I hope my kids are all dirt poor when they are first married. There are great lessons learned there. Thanks for the reminder!
I loved this post! We are so fortunate to be able to eat well and buy what we need.
This story reminds me of our year in London. We didn't have enough money to get to church let alone buy grocery's! Then one day an American Family came to church looking for a babysitter. I was sad I couldn't do it but Kent excitedly said he could. I will never forget how grateful we were for that random family. We were able to eat that month because of them!:)
Good things to remember and be reminded of.:) Thanks!
Love this story... we truly are blessed.
Great story. We take so much for granted. Happy Thanksgiving!
Love the flash back story. I want to hear more of those. At that time of life, our lives were not interwinded like they are now. We were right out of college and scrimping in Florida and you guys were across the country in ID. I feel like we missed out on part of your life by not seeing you guys as much. That period of time seems like a lifetime ago.
Anyway... as far as pizza goes, this post made me hungry for Sea Coast pizza and San Diego. How if that for excess? :) :) Can hardly wait. The 4 month count down is on!!!!
What a wonderful reminder to all of us especially at this time of year when kids (and adults!) can be tempted to think that we 'need' so much! I'm helping Hannah learn that one of the very best parts of Christmas is giving...whether it be a few coins on the Salvation Army tin or a toy she'd really like given to a toy drive. Hopefully little gestures will help her learn early that Christmas is all about giving!
Beautiful post!!
Great story!
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