Vegtables vs. Shoes

I am joining a CSA soon. The acronym stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You are basically buying shares in a local organic farm. You pay ahead for six weeks of food. I am very excited at the prospect of feeding my family fresh, organic, locally grown produce. Roser keeps referring to it derisively as 'the vegetable club'. He mentioned it to the kids tonight.

"If I am paying $250 for vegetables I'm gonna care whether or not you finish them."

"What?" XY17 squawked, "For vegetables?!"

"No," I said perhaps a little defensively, "It's organic produce, and it's $35 dollars a week."

XX13 piped in then.

"Think of the shoes we could get with $35 dollars a week."

"We'll have rickets if we don't eat fruits and vegetables," said I.

"They'll be be looking at our cute shoes and people won't notice. They'll be distracted."

I thought this was excellent logic for about two and a half seconds. Then I remembered the conversation we had earlier at dinner.

XX13 said, "I think Shelley's aunt is like a nun."

Shelley is a dear friend of mine who was the recipient of some Amish Friendship Bread starter I had to get rid of. XX13 and XX5 did my dirty work tonight before dinner. I didn't know XX13 was using teen speak for an actual nun or that the aunt was conservative like a nun. I asked for clarification

"I'm not sure. Shelley introduced her by saying 'This is my aunt, Sister Mary,' and she was wearing a huge cross and one of those outfit things that nuns wear." By now, as is not unusual, we are all rolling! XX13 tries to defend herself by saying,

"I didn't know if she was just from somewhere that women dress like that and..." her voice trailed off as she finished, "called each other Sister."

"And where would that be?" XY17 asked grinning for the first time in weeks.

"I don't know," XX13 said laughing along with us, "Maybe she runs an orphanage or something."

Just so you know, this is the girl whose advice I almost took about buying shoes instead of vegetables. In some ways, the organic apple doesn't fall too far from the locally grown tree.