The Reprise of the Jack of Hearts

Last seen, the intrepid vagabond was stuck in the vaporous world of utopian dreams. With a resilient heart, broken more than once then healed again, he was motoring through the heartland of America. “Woodie Guthrie country,” he would mumble, the few times he spoke to strangers.

A creeping hunger was aching away at his stomach. He tried contemplating noble thoughts, but alas, Maslow’s Law won out.

He stopped into a diner in a dusty town under a sign that read, “Greatest Food in the Land.” He sat down, looked at the menu and realized his choices for a meal were meat or poultry. It was then he realized what he had tended to forget: this land may not be your land.

He pleaded to the polite manager for a wholesome, meatless option. “Don’t you worry about the degradation of the planet and animal cruelty?” the Jack of Hearts inquired. My friend, the manager replied, “we have the greatest food in the world. It may not be perfect but it boils down to these binary choices. Be thankful you live in a country where you are free to choose.”

The Jack of Hearts fell silent, entering into his familiar comfort zone of another reality. Sensing the distance of his customer, the manager opined, “well, if you are really hungry, just order the lesser of the two evils.”

And with that the Jack of Hearts thanked the man for his advice, picked up his hat and continued on his journey to discover this great land.

4 thoughts on “The Reprise of the Jack of Hearts

  1. Ahh the labels that are used to hide the truth. Valid arguments abound for vegetarian lifestyle. To make matters exponentially worse, beef today is not the beef of yesterday. Steroids and countless chemically supported “products” have long since replaced beef. In just the last 60 months alone today’s “beef” is a petri dish of substances never intended to nourish rather solely designed to increase profits. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to loose… And binary choice, as our traveling friend exemplified, is no choice at all.

    • Thank you Lee for your great comments. I agree with you
      on this. It also was a veiled reference to our political system.

  2. Hmmmmm……….
    I bought beef today, then spent the rest of the afternoon wrestling
    with a guilt trip…. I can’t even remember the last time I bought beef.
    sigh.. I hope no one decides that beans are also on the endangered species list
    or unsafe to consume…. However, on the bright side,
    I am always grateful that I have food to eat. (And, I hope the Jack of Hearts found
    a meal that sets with his moral code as well as his belly…)

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