Simpler Times

SUPPERTIME

By Charles D. Williams, M.D., FACR, FAAP (“Pedro”) Eatin’ was simple in Simpler Times. It was simple ‘cause you’d eat what they put in front of you. You did it for your health. If you didn’t, Mama and Daddy would half-kill ya and Pedro learned early that complaining about your food was not good for ya. Pedro also learned early about table manners. Mama told him not to chew with his mouth open, not to smack at the table, and not to put his elbows on the table. One time Mama told Pedro to stop scratching his nose with his fork. Pedro responded by asking if it were more proper to use his spoon. When we wanted food passed our way at the table, Pedro would say thankee for some taters and thankee for some cornbread. Mama said that we should be thankful because some people were starving and we should be thankful we weren’t that poor. Sometimes Mama would take some leftovers to the poor family down the road. She said we owed it to them. They had lost their Daddy in the war so we could have freedom to say what we wanted to and so them Baptists could practice their religion and make others do the same. Mama said them Baptists were like fish and would spoil if they stayed out of the water too long. Daddy said that if you’re in deep water you needed to keep your mouth shut. Meals represented a time for Mama and Daddy and us kids to sit down together with our heads bowed and Dad would say the blessing. He was a simple man who tried to make a livin’ diggin’ in the soil but when he spoke even a child could understand. There was food for the body and thoughts for the soul. He tried to teach us about sacrificing and sharing and about doing your part. He kept talkin’ about gettin’ your education and about being good to your neighbor. Dad once said that whatever you think about yourself is going to determine your future. Conversation would often continue around the table and Grandma would join in. Pedro don’t remember how old Grandma was but we had her for a long time. Grandma told us that ever shut eye ain’t sleepin’ and ever goodbye don’t mean they’re gone. We’d discuss the problems of the world and Mama said that the number one problem was apathy. Grandma said that she didn’t know what the word meant but who cared. Eatin’ now is different in these so-called modern times. It has become difficult for many family members to join each other at suppertime and our eatin’ habits have changed. Recently Dr. Ralph Zimmerman advised me that I needed to eat some tofu for protein and oat bran for fiber. Pedro had never heard of tofu. He never planted any or harvested any. I found some tofu at the New Leaf Market and it looked like low-cal fat-back. We used fat-back for seasoning of beans, greens, mustard, and collards and it was a staple item for cookin’. Probly if we substituted tofu for fat-back it would give Southerners a bad attitude. The memories of eatin’ and of suppertime came back to me as I pondered over the years that have passed. Simpler Times has represented a way of life that is disappearing from the American scene. Some of the fondest memories of my childhood were woven around suppertime. If only I could go back to that old country place with ever’body joining together and once again hear Mama say, “Pedro, come on in, it’s suppertime.”

Reprinted with author permission from More Simpler Times.

Dr. Williams’ sequel book, More Simpler Times, can be purchased from the Capital Medical Society. All proceeds from the book are donated to the Capital Medical Society Foundation’s We Care Network program. The total sales from his books have raised over $39,000 for the CMS Foundation’s We Care Network.