Vegetarian Shoes

They say you have to walk a mile in someone's shoes to understand them.

Yesterday, Linh, Tukie and I sat down for a home cooked vegetarian dinner with the guys. For the first time in our lives, we experienced what it was like to be full and hungry at the same time. By the end of the meal, we had wolfed down a large salad, three big bowls of sauteed tofu, two even larger bowls of vegetable soup and as much rice as possible for extra measure, and yet I could still see a crazed hunger in everyone's eyes.

Ben, still fighting to retain some inkling of civility, hesitated for a brief second to take the last tofu in the bowl. That was a mistake. Hsu Han snatched up the last tofu with lightning speed and swallowed it whole while Ben's chopsticks paused mid-air. Hsu Han's survival instincts have kicked in.

The girls huddled in the kitchen to chat about how the guys were holding up. Linh said Ben was yelling at her in the car on the way to Tukie's about going to a kids party where he would have to bring his own food. Tukie, the only brave soul amongst us willing to partake on this journey with Daniel, described a perpetual hunger she couldn't shake that hit every hour after eating. We commiserated over the helplessness in facing hangry rage for the first time ever.

Today I skipped lunch because work was so busy. I took Hsu Han to a fancy vegan restaurant for dinner so he could finally get a legit meal. Up until then I had only eaten a donut all day. After dinner, the familiar, haunting sensation of feeling full and yet unsatisfied hit me again. 

These shoes are not comfortable.