…SO LITTLE TIME

       Here on Memorial Day weekend, I wore a leather jacket, gloves & scarf to the shelter this morning. Doesn't seem fair to drag winter out like this. In spite of my two heavy bags, none of the men milling around out front gave a thought to opening the first door for me. Take is everywhere; give is scarce. Cutie Gatekeeper unlocked the door, and our smiles warmed up the inner sanctum. Dean and his wife were rather quiet. Something was different, and I was never privy to exactly what that was, but I gave his wife a hug later and said I hoped she was okay.

       Our trans-gen gal, Leslie, was back! I was so excited to see her; we have the most fun!

       Dean put me to work on the soup, even giving me the key to the pantry so I could plunder the canned goods to my heart's content. Good soup—about 2 gallons—with the pot scraped clean when all was said and done.

       On the side, we served pizza, ham & cheese sandwiches & fruit. We served 40-some meals, not counting the 3rds and 4ths that our three massive people consumed. One of our enormous women took more than the normal "lunch hour" to finish eating. That woman "cannot drink" diet sodas. Every week it is the same, "I cannot drink diet; can I have something else?"

       We don't have many regular sodas because our donations are made up mostly of diet drinks. Today, I stood our ground! "We have milk and water." Leslie was closer to the woman and repeated my call, "We have milk and water." The woman chose milk—a large cup of it.

       By the way, I'll bet you didn't know that diet TEA will cause a drug test to come up positive, so we don't give the people diet tea.

       Only one of the little girls was at lunch, and she was dolled up with lipstick! Wish you could have seen her smile when I told her how much I liked it. She chose a Beanie bear and a little bag of candy & gum. The only other child was our bitty baby. Her mommy said to her, "Look! It's your Sunday toy!"

       I did not serve all the plates, nor did I have opportunity to spend much time with my people. Leslie picked up those duties when I left the serving area to begin work on some sack lunches. Soon she was commenting on how wonderful it was to interface with the people and what a great group we had. Sadly, I missed that—though I did not miss the little gentleman with the crutch who had three bowls of soup last Sunday. He made a special effort to get my attention and tell me he ate FOUR bowls today. Rumor had it that folks were asking about the soup yesterday. It's not magic, but when I see some of the greasy things they must endure, I understand their hunger for good, wholesome soup.

       My right leg is hurting awfully; the pain comes and goes. Dean followed me around the kitchen with rubber mats for me to stand on… and I thought I was there to take care of them.

       We had our CW music, and a CD that I took for Leslie. Her take on the songs that I chose for her was interesting. She's very open to new things, and I do love an open mind.

       Three hours, two lunch groups, and two dozen sack lunches into the pain and joy, I had to give it up. Otherwise, I'd still be there, making PBJs. We had a really warm, wonderful day which, by the time I left, also described the weather. Maybe something from the kitchen leaked outside…