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20
Feb
2023
Thursday January 12, 2023
On New Year’s Day, I helped serve dinner to 120 or so homeless people in a downtown church hall. It was an oddly satisfying experience – and I hope I didn’t find it satisfying because I felt superior to them.
I didn’t have time to feel superior, anyway. I was too busy setting tables, buttering rolls, mixing salads, pouring glasses of water or juice…
And I had a great time doing it.
Why? I’ve wondered that myself. I suspect that I like to work in a kind of creative anarchy -- almost the opposite of military discipline (which, I hasten to add, is also essential sometimes).
Categories: Soft Edges
Tags: Homeless, dinners, anarchy
12
Nov
2022
Thursday November 10, 2022
For a week, a while ago, I was a person with “no fixed address.” My daughter was out of town for a university reunion. That made me the designated driver/chaperone/security patrol for her two teenagers.
But I still had my own home, cat, and community responsibilities to tend to.
So I spent the week shuttling back and forth between two houses 30 km apart.
One morning, a woman pushing a grocery cart, piled high with all her worldly possessions, crossed the street ahead of me.
I felt sorry for her. At the same time, I must admit, I felt a flicker of scorn, maybe even contempt.
Then I felt shame. Because she and I were both in the same cart, so to speak.
Tags: baggage, Homeless, grocery cart