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 seated myself at a table. While waiting, I saw an awkwardly clad middle-aged guy enter the hall and walk up to the counter. Looking around, he asked sheepishly, “How much is a bowl of hot-and-dry noodles?”

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

The man paused for a while before he went further, “Is the porridge free?”

“Sorry, sir,” explained the waitress, “it is not free,”

At a lot of eateries in town, porridge on the house, a customer can help himself to it, but this diner 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. The noodles served and packed, the waitress charged him 12 yuan, the 2 meal boxes costing 1 yuan each.

More than embarrassed, the man walked away with a red face. After he exited the hall, I heard the waitresses whispering about the man. They seemed to be laughing at him, for he even could not afford two helpings of a cheap meal.

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

Well provided for by my parents, I take food and clothing for granted, never worried about life’s basics. But would I end up in the same circumstances as the man, should I be deprived of a job and income one day?