It was a few years ago when I went to study abroad with my mother and brother. When my mother decided to give us money every day to eat lunch from the cafeteria instead of preparing lunchboxes, I was not happy about it; I was in the track-and-fields team plus an active teenage boy, while the cafeteria food was known to be little. But I took it because my mother once fainted from overwork. Although the money was insufficient for more than a sandwich or two, we didn't complain; The school expenses were costly and we were not exactly the richest people. Moreover, she gave me a bonus; Just a little more than my brother so that I could afford to eat something after school. Also, after a few days, my brother was all satisfied about how good the cafeteria food tasted.
With the small amount of money I received, I tried to use the best out of it. I normally ate a cheap sandwich from the cafeteria, no drink, and after school a donut, muffin, or a small bag of chips to eat on the bus after the track-and-fields activities ended. It was not a lot of food, but I could live with it. As long as I could sustain my body, I'd try to use the less amount of money as possible; My family was not extremely rich to let us study abroad.
However, beginning from a week or two after starting to use the cafeteria, my little brother grew a habit. He would steal my snacks that I'd buy after school, and I hated it. It was when we'd meet in the school bus every day. As soon as he found me eating something, he'd shove his head in front of whatever was in my hands and take a bite. Sometimes it irritated me a lot when I was really hungry. He always complimented about how good the cafeteria food was, but then why did he have to eat my food every day? But I had to endure it for it was my little brother.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned this during dinner. Only then, did my brother laugh and tell me why he was always hungry after school. He actually didn't eat lunch. My little brother, he was so concerned about our expenses that he was actually skipping every lunch to save that little bit of money.
