Breakfast - Dinner - Supper ~ Carolyn's Ramblings ~

For most of my life, I never understood the "fancy-schmancy" folks in movies or on TV when they discussed their meals. They would have BRUNCH, which seemed to occur anywhere between 10:00 AM and noon. They would meet for LUNCH anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00 PM. In the evening, they had DINNER reservations which seemed to fall anywhere between 7:30 and 9:30 PM. What's up with this?

In the first place, they had it all wrong ---- It's BREAKFAST, DINNER, and SUPPER! At least that's what "WE" had in the small town of St. Lawrence, South Dakota where I grew up. Breakfast was at 8 AM, dinner was at 12:00 noon, and supper was at 6:00 pm. We had no excuse regarding the time either....the town whistle blew at those hours as well. We had better be heading to the house to "wash up and eat" when the whistle sounded.

It would appear the "fancy-schmancy" slept late and eliminated breakfast altogether. The word "Brunch" must be a combining of the words BReakfast and Lunch. That doesn't make sense either as lunch was something you ate after school, women took out to the men working in the fields, or your Mom served the ladies in the afternoon when she had "Club". When we invited someone to dinner, a fancy-schmancy darn well better be there at noon, or he'd be out of luck! Supper, as stated, was at 6:00 PM, and might be leftovers from dinner at noon, or the remaining sandwiches, pickles, cake and coffee from the lunch served the club ladies. If the fancy-schmancy in movies talked of "supper", it seemed to be food eaten between 10:00 PM and midnight.

Now, time has passed, lifestyle changed, husband's post-retirement job meant we were on the road at all hours of the day and night. We slept when and where we could, and ate the same way, never really knowing for sure what we should call the meal we were eating, and sometimes not quite sure where we were eating it, or even what state we were in. Days became our nights, and nights became our days. Even when we were home for a day or more, we were too out of sync to return to normal.

Retiring from that job hasn't snapped us back to normal either! We now sleep-in, and we're still up at odd hours. We eat our first meal somewhere between 12:00 noon and 3:00 PM. We usually have supper between 8:00 PM and midnight.

Oh my gosh!! We've become Fancy-Schmancy!

© 2004 Carolyn S. Rosemore

For several years I've had a running argument with a dear online friend in California. I don't know if she was born a Fancy-Schmancy or got that way after she settled there, but she's bound and determined she's going to teach me the "proper way" to distinquish meal times. I tell her that if she was to invite me to dinner, I'd show up at noon.

While on a run, we stopped for gas in Phillip, SD, where I spotted the BJ's Corner sign nearby. I grabbed my camera, and now have proof that in South Dakota it's Breakfast - Dinner - Supper!!

I rest my case! CSR