Fish on Friday



Lent poster at Notre Dame Elementary in Crespo, IA

NEW YORK, NY - I've been trying to figure out the meaning behind the empty spotlights and stage in this poster, but haven't had any luck. Lent is ostensibly about making sacrifices, so I suppose the absence of all matter "totally" captures the essence of this Catholic rite. Though I have never been accused of being an overly religious person myself, I usually try to participate in Lent by forgoing something that I enjoy.

My involvement with Lent traces back not to a childhood of diligent and regular church attendance (because that is a childhood I did not have), but rather to the offices at Wrigley Field. I started as an employee there in the month of March, and I was immediately struck by how pervasively Catholic the office was. Everybody, it seemed, was giving up something for Lent. When you're new, of course you want to fit in, so I decided to give it a shot. Each year since then, I choose something different to take out of my life temporarily.

My choices always have to do with food, unsurprisingly. In separate years, I've given up things like french fries and potato chips. One year, I happened to be in Arizona for Cubs spring training at the beginning of Lent. At a restaurant after work, my boss asked me what I was giving up for Lent. When I said that I was going to give up alcohol, she said, "Benjie, that's a stupid idea," and promptly ordered me a beer.

This year I have chosen to give up french fries and potato chips. I realized in the past that to give up one without the other is a bit disingenuous. In the years when I gave up french fries, I usually ate twice the amount of potato chips, and vice versa. Since I've been traveling a lot this past month and taking my meals in foreign lands, this was probably a good choice. I'm proud to say that, with only a week or so left, I haven't really faltered. I've allowed myself to eat tortilla chips at Mexican restaurants, but I I haven't done anything like binge on Chee-tos with the rationale that they're made of corn and not potatoes.



Lent poster at St. Joe's School in Key West, IA

It's not too early to begin thinking about where I will eat my next french fry. That, of course, will depend on where I am and what is available to me. In a perfect world, I would go to my childhood haunt of Buffalo Joe's in Evanston, IL, and or order myself a helping of cheddar chips, which are waffle-cut fries smothered with cheese. Failing that, I could find an Outback Steakhouse and eat their wonderfully sodium-laden cheese fries appetizer. Then, of course, there's the always-reliable McDonald's. The options are virtually limitless.

With only four weeks left in the tour after our return to Iowa, the counting down of days and hours is inevitable. There will be times when the wait will seem interminable, but it will be much more pleasant to count those hours and minutes with the occasional basket of french fries in front of me.

Posted: Fri - March 18, 2005 at 09:02 AM      

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