What Does Shame Taste Like?

If you were served shame for dinner, what would it taste like?

For me, it starts with candy ham and the scent of summer. I’m 6. It’s my first day of camp, and the breeze of wood fire and pine trees give the night a gentle warmth. I stab a thick slice of ham with my fork, hungrily wishing for chopsticks and thinking how odd it is to serve food so large and impossible to eat. My teacher grabs my hand and waves it in the air for everyone to see. She’s angry, but I’m not sure why. “We do not eat like this. We have manners.”