“Wealth is wasted on the rich!” Pedro sniggered, although he was quick to reap the benefits. The guests had left behind two breakfasts with the works untouched. Such brazen waste retriggered his angst. As an illegal, he could barely make the rent, let alone feed his wife and kids. He’d been a cardiologist back home, but now wiped the arses of the rich, and survived on their leftovers. It was the final blow to his dignity, but he could never go back. He might not be rich, but he’d got away from the cartel and was now his own man.
……
100 words PHOTO PROMPT © David Stewart
This week’s prompt is inspired by so many situations and events. However, on a personal note, while I was backpacking through Europe as a 22 year old in 1992, my friend and I were staying in a Youth Hostel in Koln (Cologne). We’d been away less than a week and were trying to make our money stretch as far as we could so we were being very frugal on the food front. That night for dinner, we invested in a punnet of strawberries, which just happened to be sour, but because we were saving our money, it was a brutal case of waste not want not, and you should’ve seen the expressions on our faces!! Meanwhile, back at the hostel, the dining room was full of German school kids on an excursion eating spaghetti bolognaise, and so many didn’t finish their meals, and I swear I could’ve licked their plates. OMG! It smelled so good.
As an Australian, I have it very good. However, a friend of mine whose parents were WWII refugees out of Poland, calls us “Luckycountrians”. That we don’t appreciate how lucky we are, or what it means to lose it all and throw your luck to the wind and start up somewhere else as a refugee.
This has been another contribution to Friday Fictioneers hosted by Rochelle Wishoff Fields: https://rochellewisoff.com/2022/03/16/18-march-2022/
Many thanks and best wishes,
Rowena
Beyond the Flow 
A great response to the prompt, Rowena…I absolutely abhor waste…
Pedro sounds like a survivor
But will the cartel give up, or will they track him down one day…
What little he has today seems far more valuable than that which he had in the past.
That’s very well put, Keith.
Humph. If it were a Harlan Coben story, he’d have got his life back on track and the family would be living quite anonymously in the burbs when he gets recognised somewhere really mundane like McDonalds and the chase is back on. BTW have you read any of Harlan Coben’s novels? We’ve been watching multiple series and I have “Hold Tight” on the book pile beside me.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Yes, as long as he stays out of one of Iain Kelly’s stories. It looks like he’s making plans for the cartel to dig him up.
I had to sleep on that response, Carol. I was having trouble picking something out, but they were big meals and the waste factor came to mind.
Getting away from the Cartel is good in itself.
Interesting story, Rowena. I need to ask my cardiologists if they are safe from the cartels. 🙂
Each struggles in this life. I think struggling to find enough to eat would be one of the more difficult challenges to face. He made the right choice to emigrate to evade the cartel, even though it’s not to an easy life…
Pedro’s right to condemn the wastefulness of the guests. His plight is one experienced by many refugees and you’ve shown it convincingly.
I like the word “luckycountrians”; it’s such an accident of birth that some people have to give up all they’ve built just to protect our lives and some of us get to throw away food without a second thought. I’m grateful to be on this side of that line, but I know it could all be taken away.
Me too. I’ve had that reinforced listening to an interview with “Afro-American singer” Paul Robeson when he was in Australia in 1960. my grandmother was on the interview panel. I’ve mentioned a bit about it here: https://beyondtheflow.wordpress.com/2022/04/11/weekend-coffee-share-11th-april-2022/
Best wishes,
Rowena
Thank you very much, Margaret.
Yes, I’m glad I have my comfy life here in Australia. It hasn’t been easy but I’ve always had my family to fall back on and the social security system. That said, we have homeless people here and people do fall through cracks in the ground.
I wonder if they will tell you the truth.
They might also book you in for a psych evaluation.
Best wishes,
Rowena
Freedom always has a price. Nicely done.
I like that term, luckycountrians. Very fitting. The waste in your story is painful, but oh so true.