Last Sunday morning because I had a physics class to attend at 8 at a cram school, I had to rise early and eat out. At the restaurant, I witnessed a thought-provoking mini drama.

Having ordered a bowl of beef noodles for 16 yuan, I sat down at a table and waited. While waiting, I saw an awkwardly dressed middle-aged guy walk in. Looking around, he asked, “How much is a bowl of hot-and-dry noodles?”

The waitress replied, “It’s five yuan, sir.”

The man hesitated for a while before he asked, “Is the porridge free?”

“Sorry, sir, it is not free,” the waitress explained. At a lot of restaurants in town, porridge is on the house and a customer can help himself to it, but this restaurant is different.

After some hesitation, the man took out a ruffled ten-yuan banknote and ordered two bowls of hot-and-dry noodles to go. When the noodles were served and packed, the waitress charged him 12 yuan, the 2 meal boxes costing 1 yuan each.

Embarrassed, the man walked away with a red face. After he was out of the restaurant, I heard the waitresses whispering about the man. They seemed to be laughing at him, for he even could not afford two helpings of noodles.

While digging into my beef noodles, I could not help but feel pity for the poor man. Just 2 yuan short, he could not take away the two meals. What had got him in such dire straits?

I am well provided for by my parents right now. I do not have to worry about food and clothing. But would I end up in the same situation as the man, should I have no job, no income one day?