Where Art Thou, My Can?

So where did they go?

I am asking, of course, about the 45 cans of green beans that I gave out to restaurants and then never heard anything at all. What did these places do with their cans? Did the green beans become some sort of garnish for foie gras? Were they mixed into the center of a crazy quesadilla?

I guess in my heart I hope somebody took the can home, heated the beans over the stove and then ate them. Maybe the can sat in the front of his car as he ran into the supermarket to buy a couple of steaks and a few potatoes for baking. He may not have noticed the lettering on the surrounding tag that screamed GREEN BEAN CHALLENGE 2008. Maybe the can rushed onto the floorboard when he stopped at a redlight, the nice steaks in their plastic bag jumping off the seat to cover his rolling shame.

Whatever may have happened to those cans, it truly pains me to know the truth: each one was thrown away into the trash can. It is highly unlikely that anyone would have taken their solitary "seed" can and donated it at a local collection center. And that whole truth is painful. Yes, they were not a meal, only a side item. Yes, the cans represent an ideal, not a commitment. And yes, the restaurants that responded brought so much more than the ones who threw the cans away. But DAG-NAB-IT!, those cans were food. Food. FOOD. F-O-O-D! I bet somebody could have made those beans into a casserole that was more than a side item, who could have made those beans into a heartfelt meal of appreciation and thanks, who could have made those beans into a realization that the world is cold and hard -- and also sometimes warm to those less fortunate.

It's impossible, but I might go back and ask for my beans this year...