In Defense of a Second Helping

I refuse to feel guilty about the food that makes me happy.

There is a particular kind of joy in a beef bowl still steaming, the rice underneath drinking up every drop. People talk about food like it is a weakness. To me it has always been the opposite — proof that I am alive and paying attention.

Things worth a second bowl

• Gyudon, with extra rice
• Candied apples when the air turns cold
• Anything, truly anything, with meat
• Seconds. Always seconds.

My sisters tease me for it. Let them. I would rather be honest about my hunger than polite about it. Appetite, for food or for life, is nothing to be ashamed of.