MY PEEPS

      When I arrived, a tall, lanky fellow announced to the others in the smoking area, "She's here to cook us some lunch!" Then he opened the door for me. Sweet. Brenda was keeping the gate, and she unlocked the inner sanctum door, but she never looked up. Think pitch-black dyed hair, no makeup, and permanent frown. Happily, Lanyard Guy took the next shift at noon. Always a pleasure.

       Dean and Doug were just as hyper as they could be this morning. They're both strung out over Huggy events of the week. Huggy bossed them around. Huggy refused to give out enough food (and had too much left over). Huggy was braggadocious and even nasty; i.e., "WHY are you taking out more sugar? HERE is where we keep the sugar and there's already a bag open... and NOW you KNOW!"

      The Huggy bashing went on for the entirety of my 2-1/2 hours there. In the end, while I will back up the guys about Huggy's bad habits, poor manners, and feel-copping ways… the man did have more than one heart attack in the past 6 months, and his overall health is very much on the sad side. We could well find him cashing in his chips right there at the shelter at any given time. So I reminded the guys that maybe it would be easier on all of us if we tolerate the old boy with just a touch more grace. Easy for me to say: I haven't seen him in weeks, and they must endure his strange ways daily.

       Well… aside from that and our basic food prep, there is little else to report. I made up 25 PBJ sacks by myself, and I was mixing a huge bowl of coleslaw when the pre-release came to the counter, so I didn't get to speak with any of them. Dean and Doug were at the serving counter, still, when the homeless came for their plates, so I missed them as well. As you know, connecting with my peeps is the best part of my time there. The girls were there, though, and I had a big bag of goodies for them!

       The guys were still harping about Huggy when I left; they knew he was due to arrive at any moment and try to take over their cooking. They are paid employees, you understand, and Hugs is only a volunteer—but he is a formidable personality and he has "seniority." Tough gig.

       I'm tired, and my back hurts, but P.S.: the coleslaw was a big hit—celery seed, a sprinkle of sugar, a dollop of vinegar, and a drizzle of ranch dressing. It sold out.