Peanut Butter Fudge
On rare occasions while I was in Vietnam a package from home arrived in the mail. The care package was usually filled with goodies and other items unavailable in the far-flung military bases, especially those far from the major population centers of Saigon and Danang.
Whenever a care package arrived it was an occasion for joy and excitement. The guys gathered around and wat...ched in anticipation to see what goodies might be in that box. Sharing was expected. To fail to do so was a major breach of etiquette and subjected the recipient of such largess to resentment and ridicule.
One day while I was stationed in Danang as the Naval Investigative Service Office Representative, the mail brought a gift from Mom. My mother was an excellent cook and one of my favorite treats that she made for me when I was a child was peanut butter fudge. When I opened that package in the privacy of my office, I was delighted to see an unexpected treat – peanut butter fudge.
Although I could have taken the box into the outer office and shared with the guys, avarice and selfishness overcame my normally generous soul. Well, it was my favorite candy and it was from my Mom, after all. I took one piece and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I put the box with the remainder in the top drawer of my desk to savor at a later time.
Frequent visitors to our quarters in Vietnam were rodents and other vermin. They got into everything and it was hard to find any way to keep them out of our food and other hidden-away goodies. My desk, it turned out, was not a secure storage place.
Next day, when I opened the drawer to have a piece of that delicious peanut butter fudge, I found to my dismay that a rat had helped himself to a generous portion of my hoarded treat. He had even walked all over and nibbled on the pieces he didn’t eat and left his little black “calling cards” behind.
It served me right for being so selfish. I was so ashamed of my childish behavior that I never told any of the guys what had happened. To this day I can’t have a piece of fudge without remembering that incident. I guess you could say that I got my “just deserts.”
