"Mum, I'm so full! See my tummy; I can't eat more! It'll kill my diet!" "Okay, darling. Throw your leftovers in the bin. " At the garbage disposal area... "Mum, I found a bag full of food! Wow, we have something to eat!" "Oh, thank goodness, child! Let's go sell these plastic containers at the junk shop. We can save the money for another meal tomorrow. Leave some of that pagpag for your siblings, too." "Food" Pagpag, the Filipino slang for food that gets recycled, literally; mostly, from the garbage dumpsites. While plastic containers and scraps of metal get to be sold to various junk shops, the collected edibles get to be re-cooked (if possible) and eaten. Some roam the bins to find "fresher" hoards. It isn't a derogative term, actually. It's a fact of life for many. Sometimes, we ought to open our eyes to these realities, in order to remember our own blessings--and, also, to help others,
