Ash Wednesday, lovingly known as Dirty Forehead Day, is this week. For Christians, this marks a time of penance and sacrifice before Easter. One of the common practices is to give something cherished up during Lent. Some things are very easy ("I won't eat frog during Lent!" "I refuse to participate in Burning Man during Lent.") and others are very, very hard. Following are five foods you may have the most trouble giving up.
Coffee:
As soon as someone tells me he or she is giving up coffee for Lent, I
have to suppress a manic giggle. I tried that one once; I told myself I
was going to make use of Lent to kick caffeine's hold over my life. I
was going to purify myself with only cool water and maybe juice now and
then, and I was even going to be pleasant about it. Riiiight. It lasted
exactly two days before people started leaving very unsubtle hints on
my desk, in the form of Vivarin and Starbucks gift cards. It's hard to
give up anything with a scent that calls to you from four blocks away,
especially given how many coffeeshops there are around here.
Meat:
I admire vegetarians who hold to their beliefs in a world full of
delicious meat. I admire part-time vegetarians as well, because even if
you give up meat in the best of faith for Lent, chances are you're
going to end up with pork fat or chicken broth in something you eat and
you won't tumble to it until you've thought about it later in bed. The
worst kind of failure during Lent is one over which you had no real
control. It's hard enough to remember not to eat meat on Fridays, let
alone for all six weeks.
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