Life isn’t always fair. It looks like the hungry ones, the ones who love to eat, would get rewarded by eating first. Alas, it is not always thus.

When I was a kid, we weren’t the stars of the show like youngsters today are. If company came for dinner the children would often have to wait until the adults finished eating before they ate. Can you imagine that?

I don’t imagine it. I lived through it. It was painful to see the pastor devouring all those goodies while I drooled hungrily waiting my turn. Mamaw Deloney would peel and slice a potato and tell us to munch on that until it was our turn. A raw potato!

Lest you think it was only me, this kind of torture was widespread in its time. A “famous” country music singer, Little Jimmy Dickens, even sang a song about it—“Take An Old, Cold Tater and Wait.” Columbia Records produced the song but I’m not sure they are proud of that fact. If you haven’t gotten in your quota of suffering yet you can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBi_CyJe604 If you can remember this song, I’ll pray for you. Continue reading →