by Marie Marešova, Czech Republic
I remember when we went on a school skiing trip, we might have been like twelve years old, and my friend took gluten-free bread with her to stock up – because, according to her words, this one was the best and she definitely wouldn’t be able to find it there. As chance would have it, they cooked really badly in the dining room and a lot of the food wasn’t gluten-free. So my friend always joyfully unwrapped her bread, while the rest of us suffered over creations that were probably sold in tins from 1910. It’s not that adults can’t be envious, but can you imagine the children’s envy? The only thing that spoiled my friend’s stay there was another coeliac girl from another class who stole a piece of her best bread. Sharing is caring, but it must always be consensual – and to tell you the truth, the other girl was like a character from Mean Girls.
A similar situation occurred at the end of the school year. The students in our class at the grammar school were scrubbed from toes to ears, carefully combed, and in their best clothes. In their hands, they held boxes of chocolates, flowers, candles, and other various little things for the teacher who survived the long year with them (you can guess who chose the gifts – grateful parents). But our teacher was special. She would also always bring us a present. When she entered our classroom with a bowl full of candy, a beautiful orange tangerine shone on top. The light reflected off it, making it look like a royal jewel. Each of us could pick a candy (which, to be honest, was mostly disgusting, but it was nice of her), and then our teacher walked over to my coeliac friend and handed her the tangerine. She was never sure of which candy contained gluten. I’ll be honest with you, there was another moment of total envy – what we would give for that beautiful tangerine instead of sticky candy!
I don’t want to sound like someone who rode a wave of envy throughout my whole childhood. Of course, my friend had a hard time, she had to be careful about what she ate, and more often than not she couldn’t share the same food with us. However, there have also been situations when the tables have turned – and isn’t balance the most important thing in life?