Satisfaction
movies about a future
with few survivors
that stumble across an abandoned store
with canned food on the shelves
not much else
I think
how desperate they feel
how sad
when I go into a supermarket
today
if what want isn’t there
there is still lots there
there is enough
for satisfaction
<>
at one time
thank you
was enough
now thank you
doesn’t go far enough
there has to be praise
adulation
I had to be grateful
that I was even allowed
to say thank you
for satisfaction
<>
I didn’t look
when the food was served
I kept my eyes unfocused
as I ate
I didn’t ask what was on the plate
I didn’t look to cut
I trusted
each morsel was what
I was supposed to have
I didn’t question
I ate
taste was suppressed
pleasure was not the point
the point was to eat
whatever was served
to eat silently
then
get the fuck out
so the next person could
seek satisfaction
I don’t think I’ve seen movie about the future in which the planet hadn’t been depleted. People were eating artificial food some some sort – pellets, jelly, or some brown gruel. Food was dispensed by a machine & like Willie Wonka all was flavour enhanced. People in the future didn’t need roughage. They didn’t have to cook either so, if there was a kitchen, it might provide some sort of coffee – that if it was a future with potable water.
Another vision of life after some sort of climactic event is one of scavenging through the debris of supermarkets, or protecting crops from roving bands of unwashed, cut-throat assholes. In both scenarios no one complains about what they get to eat. There’s no discussion of depth of flavour or lack of seasoning.
When I shop for food, clothing, candy etc. I am confronted with a huge range of options – so many I sometimes find it ‘hard’ to make a decision or am confounded that I can’t find, say, something isn’t gluten free, sugar-free or perfect if one is lactose intolerant – halloween candy with nuts will soon be illegal (just kidding) but to have my diet limited by the restrictions of others seems unfair. I once asked at a bakery if they had anything with gluten & the clerk stared daggers at me. I know where I won’t be shopping soon. Unless after the apocalypse there are only gluten-free options because all the wheat has been destroyed.
A noted American personality believes that people should express their gratitude for being in his presence that he should never have to pay for anything. Restaurants, lawyers, even nations that expect him to pony up the cash are treated as ingrates who don’t have enough class or smarts to adore his very existence. The fact that the world doesn’t turn around him is a conspiracy. No thanks.
TOpoet 