Having lived either in cities or in large cities for nearly three
decades now, I tend to forget what a transformation I've gone through. I grew up in the country and used to see
horses, cows and pigs on a daily basis, although I didn’t interact with them too
much, as mine weren’t a farming folk*). I used to chase hens for fun, and be
chased by cockerels (also for fun, I guess). I could even talk to farmers, even
if I didn’t understand them. If I focus, I can still tell a tractor from a
combine-harverster. However, the truth is I’m urban now, at times even über-urban.
I was reminded of it today, while eating an über-urban
sandwich (if peasants saw it, they’d struggle to work out it’s at all edible).
When the urbanely overpriced sandwich was mid-way to my mouth, it suddenly struck me that, strangely, the green
leaves, which the thing was stuffed with to such a
degree that it was nearly bursting at its seams, looked extremely similar to
someting I saw once growing in a field. This realisation unsettled me a little, so I paused the up-coming bite to
hesitate for a split-second whether it’s a good idea to eat something that comes
stragtht from soil.
(Then I thought: ‘What the heck! I'll take the risk', and went on).
*sorry, not funny.
**actually, on my mom's side there was a bumper crop of farmers at some point in history.
*sorry, not funny.
**actually, on my mom's side there was a bumper crop of farmers at some point in history.
