Day 6: Saturday

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!

I believe Valentines Day (or GALentines Day as Carlie and I like to call it) is a holiday that basically encourages all people to eat copious amounts of food like chocolate to either celebrate a relationship, or wallow in the fact that you are alone. So naturally, I received cupcakes from my mother this morning with a balloon and note attached saying "Hope you and Carlie enjoy these :)" Thanks for automatically assuming I wouldn't be sharing them with a guy mom....

   

When I opened the box, my mouth literally started to water. I tried to take a selfie you could see the physical drool, but it was pretty difficult to capture, and was also pretty gross and embarrassing. 

Here are some pictures of what the cupcakes looked like. I sent the first picture to my mom and thanked her for the surprise...but minutes later I sent her the second picture (the chocolate cupcake in front of my bananas and oatmeal) and reminded her that I was still participating in the SNAP Challenge. Although her intentions were good, she felt so guilty for sending me such a torturous gift! I comforted her by telling her that I couldn't wait to eat them on Monday for breakfast ;) 

Its hard to tell from the picture above, but the underside of those bananas has become completely brown and mushy. I tried to choke one down for breakfast this morning, and I couldn't make myself eat even half. When I was buying all my food for the week, I stupidly didn't think about the fact that food like bananas might go bad. I thought I had been smart to buy about 10 bananas at the beginning of the week (they were on sale and I knew I could have at least one a day), but now I realize that my logic was way off. I should have split up the purchase and bought the second half later in the week, because the bananas got too ripe and I just ended up wasting my money. 

On Saturdays I usually hop from room to room in North and say hi to my friends and hear about how their nights were. Today I found that every room I walked into was filled with girls munching away on pretzels, popcorn, and every hangover food you could imagine. Again, I basically had to sit on my hands to prevent myself from absentmindedly reaching into the bowls of snacks that sat in the middle of the floor. Throughout the week I have truly been amazed by how insensitive my friends have been to this challenge. Carlie has been basically been the only friend that has not only supported me by encouraging me daily to stick with it, but she has also done the challenge with me, just because she wanted to experience it for herself. No matter how often I explain the SNAP challenge, my other friends just don't seem to get it. 

"Why don't you just cheat, Al? Its not that big of a deal, you don't have to tell your professor or anything, who is gonna know?" 

If I had a dime for every time I heard that phrase this week I could probably buy another $4.20 worth of extra food. 

For some reason my friends and I are experiencing a massive disconnect. They can't seem to understand why I don't want to cheat. I know that the food I have been eating has made me become an exhausted, moody, and irritable friend, and I understand that they want me to act like my normal self again - I just wish they could see beyond the fact that this is a class assignment, and understand that my grumbling stomach and sluggish behavior are representative of a problem that is so much bigger than ourselves. The ignorance that has surrounded me this week has been one of the most enlightening parts of this experience, and I honestly think that every student at Richmond should participate in this challenge, so they can step out of their affluent bubble and understand the value of perspective.