"Does the commissary department ever run short of supplies because of an unusual demand?" I asked.
"If it does, it can then requisition from another nearby department," he answered. "If people are inclined to be gluttonous, and it happens at times, even here, we ration them. That situation doesn't arise frequently, however, and when it does, we study the individual to find out what causes this unhealthy habit and help him to eliminate it. Individuals are very quickly cured from such an unhealthy inclination.
"In the court along the kitchen, there is a public dining room where each family has a permanently reserved table. Menus are made up daily, by competent dietitians, who offer nourishing dishes adapted to the special needs of age, activity, and physical condition of the individual. When we wish a specially cooked dinner, we must notify our chef about the change of our menu. Sometimes my wife cooks a special dinner herself, in one of the small kitchenettes adjoining this large kitchen. It is only when we have special company that we dine in our homes."
Mrs. Savona announced luncheon. A metal cooker on the table did the roasting right in front of us by electronic high frequency short wave radio. The heat generated in the food cooked it in seconds. It was so wonderfully flavored and tasty that I enjoyed several helpings. I complimented my hostess on her good cooking, asking her if all housewives on Mars were such good cooks.
"Oh, yes, and some are better. A great many are specialists in the different branches of culinary arts. But we all stress a wholesome diet. All our girls must take courses in home economics as well as in practical nursing, pediatrics, and at what you call baby sitting; they are frequently called to care for children when their parents go out. We all get, in our court, a week's turn to work and help in our kitchen. Kitchens in every court are operated by the residents, other residents operate our dining rooms; but it is all done under the supervision of our chef and head waiter.
"We live in what you earth people would call a community style. Every community has five or six courts, as you must have seen from the air, laid out in cluster near each other. The young couples like ourselves who bring up families and who need more rooms occupy single homes or two family homes. The four-story apartment houses, which surround the larger courts, are occupied by people who have already raised their families and who need less space.
"Every community has its preliminary school, hospital, and with provisions for one bed for every twenty persons and one physician for every fifty adults or twenty-five couples and their families in the community. There are also a drug store, theatre, moving picture and television house, gymnasium, dance hall, for the young boys and girls, social clubs for the young and the aged, music band, skating rink during the winter, and indoor and outdoor playgrounds for the very young children. Of course, there is constant intermingling, between those living in adjoining and other communities.
"We also have our own court of justice presided over by a conciliator chosen from our retired aged residents every year. This court settles our personal disputes. If we wish, we can call in an outside impartial arbitrator. We also have in this city a superior court of appeal, presided over by ten retired, aged Martians who are elected by all our city residents for a four year term. Anyone can appeal his case and get a hearing. Our court, comparable to your Supreme Court, is also located in Amboria."
Mrs. Savona addressed Xora. "Do not forget that after the next two weeks you will take your turn as nurse's aide in the hospital. You had better make the most of your time now in showing around our Earth guest."
Luncheon over, Xora suggested taking a walk. "It's a favorite diversion of ours," she said. "You can more readily observe our ground surface while we are strolling."