SERIES:
DINING
WITHOUT
DOLLARS
Wanda enjoying a meal with her brand new upper dentures.
(photo credit unknown)
Column 140 - Part 1 - An Insider’s Guide to Eating Free in Monterey (6/16/2017)
BEING unable to afford food happens. If I hadn’t been with my friend MJ, she’d have experienced it in May. I met MJ at the airport and took her to rent a car. At the rental agency, her purse vanished. “I lost my wallet, credit cards, cash, medical records, cell phone, camera and driver’s license,” MJ told the Police. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 141 - Part 2 - A HOTEL-HOPPER’S GUIDE TO FREE FOOD, BEDS, AND SHOWERS (6/23/2017)
SUCKING the eyes and brains from discarded fish wasn’t on the menu of a woman I’ll call HS, although such
protein feeds countless hungry people in the world.
If HS hadn’t dedicated herself to downing free fattening foods, she might not be carrying 100+ pounds
she gained while earning her Doctor of Education degree. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 142 - Part 3 - EGGCORNS FROM POTLATCH AND FREE TURQUOISE-FEATHER MEALS (6/30/2017)
BAKING bread and breaking bread are opposite aspects of Great Spirit in Monterey’s “dining without dollars” free breakfasts by the beach. If interested, come on Saturday morning, 8:45 a.m.-10 a.m. to the BBQ area behind the baseball field by Lake El Estero in Monterey. Pastor Jim Nelson and his wife Judy, of Seaside, and Brian Bajari, host the weekly Pass the Word Ministry’s “Serving the Homeless & Hungry Breakfast.” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 143 - Part 4 - FREEBIE-FINDERS’ FINGER-FILCHING, BUG-BITING FOOD TIPS (7/7/2017)
EATING free of charge is the theme of this series. If you think it involves only the hungry and/or homeless
people, take a deep breath, because you could be in for a shock!
There may be people you know right now who are food-filchers, meaning people who dine on freebies
even though they can afford to pay. Their ilk includes those who crash funerals and memorial services,
graduations and weddings at which receptions are held. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 144 - Part 5 - WHOEVER SAID “THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH? (7/14/2017)
CONSUMING free fine food on the Monterey Peninsula depends on Three “Ifs” that will prove there is/ indeed, such a thing as free lunch, dinner, and breakfast! • If you’re mobile and plan to be at the right place...(CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 145 - Part 6 - POETS, GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD! (7/21/2017)
EXPLORING attainment of free meals on the Monterey Peninsula entails qualifying for the third “If” that will
provide free food from Gathering for Women (GFW) and Food Bank for Monterey County.
If a bit of poetic philosophy is added, it might shed light on those who give food freely so you’re
comfortable dealing with them. (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 146 - Part 7 - AN INSIDE LOOK AT COOKING WITHOUT KITCHENS (7/28/2017)
DURING the Depression, my uncle Archie rode the rails with homeless men in rambling boxcars that deposited
him in Wichita, where he harvested crops in Kansas farmers’ fields.
If Archie hadn’t been the privileged son of a northeastern Missouri doctor, whose surgical footsteps he
was trying to escape because blood made him sick, would he have qualified as a hobo?
Or might he have been comparable to today’s youthful “travelers” who, like young adults of fairy tales,
set out to find their fortunes and foraged for food along the way? (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 147 - Part 8 - A NEWCOMER’S GUIDE TO THE FOOD BANK PATH (8/4/2017)
VISITING your first big food bank can be a culture shock like I experienced when I met the friend who invited
me to St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Seaside on a foggy, cold morning in winter 2013.
If I’d been prepared for the church parking lot’s teeming throng of mostly elderly people, I’d have felt
less like I was in a Russian bread line from Salinas author Ludmila Austin’s novel “Earrings for a Black Day.”
I was wearing a thin gold shawl, seeking Shari, who waved from a folding chair at the front of the crowd.
“Looks sort of like a refugee camp, doesn’t it?” She was snug in jogging outfit, overcoat, and stocking cap.
I shivered. “How long have you been here?”
“Since 7:30. I always come early to get the best picks.” Shari tucked a paperback novel into her shoulder
bag. She’d brought two wire grocery carts and numerous canvas totes. Shari asked, “What did you bring to carry
your stuff in?”
(CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 148 - Part 9 - OLD MOTHER HUBBARD NEVER WENT THROUGH THIS CUPBOARD! (8/11/2017)
RIPPING off a local food pantry isn’t something you’d expect a couple with an infant to do in broad daylight in
Pacific Grove, but such an “Old Mother Hubbard” crime did happen, sans the baby. Remember your nursery
rhyme?
Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone.
But when she got there, (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 149 - Part 10 - LIKE OLD BALL PLAYERS WAITING THEIR LAST TURNS AT BAT (8/18/2017)
TRACKING RVs, motorhomes, and other wheels that migrate between Marina and Seaside is like watching
spectator sports. If I were a broadcaster, I’d call them “no-winner” games.
You ask, “For example?”
I reply, “The local camper stenciled in moldy brown/liver grey/grungy green camouflage was spotted near
Seaside Beach at noon. Later, it sat on Elm Ave. among four rust-streaked vehicles like worn out ball players
waiting their last turns at bat.”
“Who are they?”
“I call them Houseless on Wheels, or simply Wheelers.”
“Do they include bikers?”
“Sure, if they’re homeless, migrating, and without a dream destination.”
“Are Wheelers male, female, single?”
“Singles, working mothers with kids, unemployed married guys. Wheelers are everyone! A crippled
Vietnam veteran and his feisty young novia shared a decrepit camper until she ripped his wheelchair off its rack,
called him an F word, and left a pile of trash in the street.” (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 150 - Part 11 - CAN SHERIFF’S KNOCK-AND-TALK RESTORE
HOMEY FLAVOR TO FINGER-FOOD CAMPING? (8/25/2017)
PLANNING home-cooked meals was a crucial practice that prevented World War II families from going hungry,
broke, or homeless.
If Mother hadn’t stuck to a thrifty menu list, I’d have not learned... (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
