Bare Feet And White Flour
Have you ever wondered why your parents did some of the things that they did. I did lots of
times. My dad had so many regimented activities that I thought he had a screw lose or
something. I'm only going to talk about two here because there are too many to put into one
essay.
I really spent time observing my dad as a kid and listening to him. It wasn't until I was about
forty that I realized some of the benefits of his behavior and, very recently, some of the real
benefits of his behavior. My dad had an unbelievable fear of getting a cold. He came home from
WWII with malaria and tuberculosis. He was always cautious of sharing food, towels, cups, and
silverware. Any watermark on silverware in a restaurant was sent back immediately.
I remember one time in a restaurant in New York a fork went back three times. Some people
send food back. He sent the silverware back. It got so bad that one guy sitting close to use told
my dad that the he thought that the waitress was on Candid Camera.
If you sneezed you were accused of trying to bring a cold into the house, to try and kill him. He
was hospitalized on December 27, 1967 due to a re-occurrence of the TB and was sent to the
infirmary at the veteran's hospital in East Orange NJ for 3 months. When he was released from
the hospital anything and everything could give him a cold.
Two things were absolutes, cold feet and white flour. I never saw my father walk around without
shoes or slippers on. He wouldn't walk three feet without putting on a pair of slippers. If you
sneezed, he would always ask you what you ate. My sister, my mother, and I thought he was
crazy. Bare feet and white flour would make you sick and if you got sick, well as he put it, "If I
get a cold I am finished."
All of these things I observed always stuck with me. When I was about 40 years old I started to
battle my weight. Always watching my calories and trying to stay in shape. The Atkins diet
started to become very popular along with other diets that res