Gluttony

I spent some time thinking about this one... how I would write it, and the only thing that came to mind was the day my two oldest brothers decided to have a spaghetti eating contest. I know that I may get some of the facts wrong, but this is the way I remember it.

The table was set. Each of them started out with a pound each of spaghetti. In front of them sat a bowl of meatballs and hard boiled eggs (common in Italian families as the "meat" during lent). They began eating, each taking two meatballs each and two eggs each. Minute by minute they consumed the meal, keeping up with each other, taking sips of water in between bites. One brother would pierce his fork into a meatball, and the other would do the same. For over twenty minutes, they paced themselves, forkful for forkful, meatball for meatball, egg for egg. When their bellies were full, the snap on their pants unbuckled, they both leaned back in their chairs. It was a tie. Then my brother Cliff puts his fork in another meatball, and eats it in one bite. My brother John watches, takes his fork and moves it toward the meatball... then he drops the fork, jumps up from the table and runs to the kitchen sink and pukes up the entire meal.

And that, my friends, is gluttony.

The opposing virtue is abstinence. Was it gluttony before that last meatball? Would it have been virtuous of my brother Cliff to just let it remain a tie? (We'll get to pride in another post).

It doesn't just apply to food though. You can be gluttonous over anything - money, alcohol, sexual encounters with women (and men). Whatever. Yet, there seems to be a shut-off valve with gluttony, at least per instance. The gag reflex of John went full-throttle, but that was his shut-off valve and I am willing to bet he'll think about it the next time he enters into a spaghetti-eating contest with Cliff, who clearly, if you know him, can put away some food!

So the next time your stomach is bulging or your hangover lasts for over a week, or your significant others are cat-fighting over the likes of you - you might want to open up your mind and meditate on your gag reflex because a kitchen sink full of your regrets is not an easy one to clean.