School Lunches and Polaroids

As Lamott was describing school lunches, I tried to recall my lunches. It was really hazy at first; nothing too remarkable. I marveled at her recall of the strict requirements for the types of sandwich: I've never eaten a bologna sandwich with lettuce in my life. I wonder if I would like it better. Because I really hate bologna. It's the smell that's so nauseating to me. And I never ate PB&J because I was allergic to the PB.

On first glance, my memories of school lunch were going through the line. As a grade schooler, I remember passing through the line and feeling nauseous because they were offering hot peanut butter cookies and the smell was so revolting (physically!). And I remember those yummy square pieces of pizza.

As I thought about high school, my favorite school lunch came to mind: chocolate donuts and milk. But thinking about it lead me to think about where I ate it: often in the library, or up in the computer lab. Anywhere but in the lunch room. That dreaded lunch room. Why was the lunch room so evil? The girls sitting there in their pockets of friends, with spurnful eyes. It wasn't that I didn't have the Code lunch, because the Code lunches at my school were the bought kind, but it was that I didn't have the Code friends.

And then I thought about this boy in middle school who they tormented. He ate ketchup on a cookie once, just for the attention. I wonder if he became a writer. I seem to remember him playing the trumpet... It's funny that I thought of him. Even though I wonder what this has to do with telling a story with pictures. I suppose it relates to finding that subtext and letting it speak to you for the inspiration, the theme.

And like the Polaroid, finding that hook in a bigger story will pull people in. How to make it personal. How to get the audience to connect. It's not hard for me to connect with my story - but how to get others there? To want to know or see what I want to know or see? How to get them interested in my chocolate donuts and milk.