A free beignet

Today went much better in part thanks to the Willie's Po'Boy truck handing out free beignets on the street right outside my office. I thought long and hard about whether to accept this handout. It met the requirements of the challenge in that it was free to anyone on the street. It really did help me get through the day. And yesterday was definitely an experience of not having enough food to get through the day.

But I am left still wondering about how my own privilege plays into my access to this free food. Where I work there are a lot of food trucks that congregate, and someone living and working in a different part of the city would not have this kind of access. The vendor is giving food away as a promotion, because they believe the recipients are going to come back next week and buy this new item they are offering; I'm part of a community that they know will support their business with our disposable income. Those who have enough food are getting free food on top of it. And while I am certain there were people in the neighborhood going for the free beignet to deal with a reality of not having enough to eat for the day, that was not the norm in this neighborhood, which is why the truck was there in the first place.