To the editor:
What is the world coming to?

I silently lost a little hope in humanity the other day. Like most of us, I’m broke as a joke, so when the chance of a free meal comes by, I’m first in line.

I found out that Panda Express throws all the extra food out at the end of the night. (Being the hungry opportunist, that I am, I had to do something immediately!)

So I made a plan and stuck to it. I perfectly time my arrival, as if I didn’t have it planned out. I saw the horrid trash can the food was about ready to be dumped in. I made eye contact with the lady and smiled. Playing dumb, I asked if the food was thrown out at the end of the night. Inside I giggled a little bit, my frugal (cheap!) mother would have been proud of me! But all of a sudden my foolproof plan hit rock bottom. I could tell the lady had been down this road before. She mentally reverted back to some policy lingo that justified why she had to put the food in the trash and not give it to me. I did everything but beg. No food.

At first, I was upset because I was hungry, but then, later the next day, it really got to me. What if I was a starving little kid or a homeless man? Would they have given me the food? I would like to think they would have. But as I stood there, watching everything going into the garbage, I had my doubts.

Chris Filosa