Depression Eaters*

My mom went to visit her mother for lunch the other day in her hometown of Bremerton. My mom’s mom, Shirley Levern Boener, is eighty-nine years old and is still kicking. Although often times Shirley makes comments like, “My eyesight is gone”, or “I just can’t walk anymore”, the family (including my mother) has realized Shirley in her old age likes being dramatic. Mind you of course that seeing and walking at age eight-nine is much more difficult than it was fifty years ago, Shirley really is in great health.
Her great health might stem from being active when younger or maintaining a regular routine at the local YMCA, but when I say ‘great health’ I mean to say that Shirley is, well, festively plump which in turn means she’s definitely over weight. So while she may be healthy (still alive and breathing) she could afford to lose a pound or two. But this entry isn’t about my grandmother being overweight and needing to shed an inch or two, it’s really about her eating/dining habits and the lunch she had with my mom.
Born in 1918 on a farm in South Dakota, she and her parents as well as her twelve brothers and sisters experienced the depression years at they’re finest. Poor as your can imagine, feeding the family was something of a struggle and saving enough money was essential to buy groceries. During the depression when there was little to come by, anything saved was cherished and I have a feeling this mentality stuck with Shirley as years went by—that is with regards to food.
My grandmother Shirley likes to eat out. Actually in the past 22 years, I have never seen her cook a meal at home. Her favorite restaurant in Bremerton would be Angel’s Buffet. A smorgasbord of food varying from Thanksgiving turkey to Chinese fried rice and sweet and sour chicken, Angels I think appeals to Shirley because A) you can eat as many plates as you want and B) because there’s a senior discount. Reflecting back to her past, to eat as much as you wanted for a minimal price was unheard of, so to seize the opportunity now makes sense, right? Her other favorite restaurant would be the ever so wonderful (joking) Sizzler house. Cheap steak, an endless salad bar AND a senior discount is like winning the Lotto and again certainly not like anything she was use to when growing up.
Grandma took my mother to the Sizzler the afternoon she came for lunch and while waiting to order their meal, Clifford my grandmother’s husband whispered to my mom, “watch…this is what we do”. My grandmother ordered a steak (at a senior price) and baked potato and my grandfather ordered the fish, and a baked potato, (also at a senior discount) both receiving the option to visit the free salad bar. Once their food was served—a nice slab of fish and a juicy hunk of steak, Clifford left to visit the salad bar to pile as much as he could onto his plate. In fact, my mom told me that Cliff never even touched the meal he ordered but rather continuously made trips back and forth from the free bar. This of course was part of the plan. Cliff revealed to my mother that he eats as much as he can at the salad bar (for free) and then boxes up his main meal to take home. That way, he gets two meals for the price of one. Shirley does the same, eating half her meal and then stocking up on the salad bar to take home whatever is left unfinished.
Needless to say, my mother was appalled—even more so when Clifford tried stealing the mints off the other tables. Instead of eating their meals, they ate what they could for free and took the rest home for tomorrow’s lunch. This story makes it sound as if my grandparents are poor when in fact they are not. Both of them could afford to eat out everyday for every meal if they wanted to and yet they have a habit of hording food at the lowest cost possible to feed themselves the next day. That is why I think my grandparents are ‘depression eaters’. They’ve socially been constructed to save as much as possible because that was how they were raised. Even though the times have changed and senior prices may indeed go up with the food crisis currently at hand, so long as there’s a free salad bar, Shirley and Clifford will continue to stash food.