After his workday was done, one day a man stopped at the neighborhood grocery store to purchase a few things for his family’s dinner. In the packages were the makings of a delightful dinner that his wife would make for them; a few potatoes, some carrots, a loaf of bread and a side of beef. He entered the kitchen and placed the bags on the counter in front of his wife. She smiled at him knowing that today had been a good day for him. He always brought home something special when he made extra wages. Digging around in the bags she pulled out the package of beef. That was a treat.

After laboring over the stove the wife presented the family with a yummy looking beef stew. As the family gathered at the table for the meal, he led them in grace and dug into the stew with his fork and knife. “Ugh. It’s a little tough.” The youngest child couldn’t manage to chew the tough meat and spit it back onto the plate.

The man pushed back from the table, and went to the hall closet to re-dress for the winter weather. All of the eyes at the table followed him except his little daughter who was right behind him mimicking his every move. Somebody had made her daddy angry and she wanted to see who had that kind of nerve. He didn’t notice her behind him until he climbed into the car. “Where are you going?”

It was too late to see her back into the house. He wanted to get back to the store before it closed for the night. With the bits of cooked beef wrapped in brown paper and lying on the seat next to him, he careened through the snowy streets back to the neighborhood store. Once inside the store his booming voice moved the other patrons away from the counter and the foreign store owner who was at the register. At the counter he slammed the package down and began to yell at him.

“This is horse meat. Why do you think you can come into the neighborhood and sell this crap? Man I ought to beat the crap out of you. Give me my money, NOW!” On-lookers listened as the two men exchanged fierce fighting words. The shopkeeper argued that he wasn’t selling horse meat and dared the man to prove it. Standing behind her dad, the little girl held onto his coat tail hoping he wouldn’t get into a fight. In the end the shopkeeper returned the belligerent dad’s money.

Back in the car with his child settled in her seat he let a tear roll down his face. “Don’t ever buy substandard food or goods from anybody. Don’t let anyone ever treat you like you don’t matter. We are Americans and deserve to be treated as such.”   

Fast forward to today and the bad chicken purchased from a reputable grocery store. All of the sights and sounds from that day years ago flashed before me. “Don’t ever buy substandard food or goods from anybody.” Perhaps the manager didn’t know about the bad product because, it was a mistake to place that frozen meat in the case. It needed to be brought to his attention in a non-confrontational manner. With a smile on my face and cheer in my voice I explained that perhaps the store could re-think selling that particular brand of chicken. How many others had been fooled by the frozen wing bits and never said a word. It would have been enough to return the meat and receive a refund, but the lesson in growing up was if you don’t speak up it will remain the same.