Anyone behind me in line at the supermarket check-out would think me uncharitable.  The cashier asks,'Would you like to donate a meal to the X house for the poor?’  Naturally, it is deliberate that her script obliges that any answer other than an enthusiastic 'Oh, yes please! I would love nothing more!’ renders you instantly a heartless shell of a human.  The supermarket’s bet is that 9 out of 10 people will look sheepishly around them and, if anyone is witnessing their insensitive answers, will succumb to the cashier’s captivating plea.....

At the check-out, as our transaction comes to a close the cashier points behind her at a collage of photos of some of the store’s products displayed neatly to show each one’s label.  She asks as she has on every previous visit, 'Would you like to donate a meal to that poor people place?’  The photos present the shopper with a few options for so-called meals to donate to aforementioned 'poor people’. For $15, the economically (and soon to be nutritionally) disadvantaged can receive the following: hamburger helper with some hamburger (to be helped) and several macaroni and cheese 'kits’ with some semblance of preserved cured meat-like accompaniment.  This basket also includes a vat of diet juice.  $30.00 gets some lucky recipient the deluxe package of instant mashed potatoes, a large jar of Italian-style sauce, a misleadingly plump, white CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) chicken, canned mandarin slices and instant whipped topping mix. Hmm.