Lev Ilizirov
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One pork chop for one and a half sausage
When I look at this picture I can’t help but look at the painting on the wall at the other end of the table. A half full glass of water stands next to a bottle where its water seems to be taken out from. What bothers me is the following: The amount of water that was taken from the bottle doesn’t seem to correspond with the amount that is present in the glass. There seems to be much more in the glass.
But I am willing to forgive the artist. In the wiggly lines I seem to recognize the unrefined motor skills of a child and that they don’t have a good sense of proportions is completely understandable.
The proportions displayed on the table however seem to be perfect. Just look how there is something left on every dish. There is still a little bit of hummus left in the bowl, just as there is still one piece of melon left on the plate. The person who prepared this lunch must be very satisfied. There is enough food left to say that people must have had sufficient to eat, while there is not so much food left to feel that one has prepared too much.
There is only a lot left of the salad on this end of the table. That is actually understandable. I don’t mean to insult anyone, but that salad looks everything but appetizing.
When we had a barbecue at our home my parents always bought a fixed amount of meat, to make sure that nothing would go to waste. So everyone of us had one hamburger, two pork chops, one drumstick and one and a half sausage. Barbecuing with military precision.
There was always a lot of trading going on among us kids. My sister was very fond of drumsticks, while my brother liked pork chops more. There was a strict trading system. A pork chop was worth one drumstick, but only half of a sausage. Hamburgers were never exchanged. In our system they were invaluable.
These exchange rates were not be questioned. When a friend of my brother once asked two pork chops for a drumstick, he was immediately reprimanded by my mother.
I never thought any of it. Back then it all seemed very natural to me. But now I realize I would rather sit down with this lunch than go to one of my parents’ barbecues. No matter how much I love them.