72 Cents

L had to stay in at lunch time. He had to take a make up test for Music class. Whenever kids have to stay in and do make up work, some of the other kids bring them lunch from the cafeteria. L gets $3 a day to buy lunch with.
He gave the day's designated lunch kid his $3, and a list of foods he would like to eat. The kid came back with no lunch and less money than he was given. Seventy-two cents less, to be specific.

L should have told a teacher, but he didn't. He should have raised a fuss, but he's 13; and doesn't get the importance of eating lunch, I guess. So when I picked him up from school, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. He had the look that tells me he didn't eat very much for lunch.
I asked, "Are you hungry?"
He replied, "Yes!" The whole story came pouring out of him; how he had gotten no lunch, and the kid who was supposed to bring him lunch spent his lunch money, and how outraged he was at this.
Of course, I was outraged too. My son had no lunch! But when he told me about the 72 cents, I had to hold in laughter. I didn't think it was funny, per se'. The whole thing was just ridiculous, and my response was laughter. I wondered what that kid was thinking? I wondered how he had talked himself into a position where it was ok to spend someone else's lunch money, yet not bring food for the child he was supposed to buy food for?

The first think I did when we got home was feed my son. The second thing I did was call the school. I didn't want to get the kid in trouble. I didn't want to label him a thief. I wanted L to get his 72 cents back, and I wanted to make sure all the kids got their lunch at lunch time.
When I called the secretary and told her the story, she giggled too. At least I wasn't the only one who thought it was funny. We agreed that although it was funny, and a paltry 72 cents; it was still a big deal. I made it clear that I wasn't calling this child "bad". I wasn't angry at the kid. But it can't happen again. The secretary understood completely. The kid has repaid L. No harm, no foul. Except that L went without lunch. That part pisses me off.
To be fair, L is a very picky eater. I'll bet his lunch request was pretty short. It was probably something like this, "Ideally, I'd like chicken nuggets. If they don't have any, I want a hamburger -not a cheeseburger. And a big cookie. And a Capri Sun."
The kid said they didn't have any of the foods L wanted, and offered to share his chocolate milk with my son. See, he wasn't "bad", he was just a kid. If they didn't have anything L had asked for, maybe he didn't know what to bring.