Sign of the Times

I did notice the caller-id was the local homeless shelter, but I did not imagine they needed us to go serve LUNCH. We have always helped with dinner.
Our family is on the "Emergency Call" list, meaning, when the people who volunteered to serve dinner do not show, the shelter calls us. Sometimes they call us a week in advance; the church or whoever had signed up could not get enough people to agree to help. On several occasions, they have called us at the moment and asked if we could come right over. Someone had signed up and just failed to show up.
Billy's voice runs a little on the high side, anyway, but under stress, it's downright shrill. When I see the RHM caller-id and the voice on the other end says, "Miz Blackwell? Miz Blackwell? Oh, God, we need help!" I reply with, "Hi Billy, how are you today?" He always seems surprised that I know who he is.
"Oh, Miz Blackwell, the church that was supposed to serve God's Table today did not show up and we're supposed to open the doors in a half hour. Can you--"
"We'll be right there."
I called the fam together and asked them to join me on a trip to the Shelter. DH had a meeting at noon; it was 11:30 at the time so he was unable to go with us. I called 3 friends, got VM on each call, and left messages. "If you can meet us up there, we'd love to see you!" And Little One and I jumped in the car and sped off. Correction. (My court date for aforementioned speeding ticket is tomorrow) I drove off carefully adhering to the posted speed limits.
When we got there we were advised we were serving sandwiches only. There were no chips to accompany them, and no time to go get some. Did not have time to do desserts, nor the manpower to wash dishes.
The sink was filled with hot water and frozen luncheon meat. Ketchup, mustard, and mayo were already out in the dining room on the tables.
We laid in making sandwiches. LO followed my lead and laid bread out 2x2, opposing pieces facing, peeling frosty luncheon meat and putting it on the bread. Stacked sandwiches high in large acrylic tubs for serving. We were told to put 2 pieces of meat on each sandwich.
I asked how many people typically come to God's Table. Billy replied that they usually have 75 to 80, but he believed when they saw we only had sandwiches, many would leave. He said we should plan for 50.
We loaded ice in 50 glasses and poured tea. Made sandwiches. At noon the doors opened and they started coming in.
At first, I did my normal routine. At times when I saw the food was moving smoothly and enough tea glasses were set out, I would take a tea pitcher and move through the dining room, refilling glasses. Although I had not thought it was a particularly hot day, it was different for someone who had not been in a cool home. These people were sweaty and thirsty. There was a strong smell of sweat throughout the dining room. When they saw me coming with the pitcher, they would gulp their tea down to get a refill.
The people kept streaming in. LO made sandwiches. She filled tea glasses. She spot-cleaned the prep table. She saw openings for work and jumped in and just did it. It was truly the first time I have seen such maturity in this 12 year old. No one said, "Could you please do this or that..." she just saw the need and stepped in.
Well, we ran out of sandwiches. We ran out of luncheon meat and started making PBJs. We ran out of bread and began slicing pumpernickel, sourdough, all the dinner breads. When we ran out of those breads, we started using hamburger buns.
The people did not seem to mind. Billy had done a good job of telling them that no one had shown up to prepare them a warm meal and the best we could do was throw some sandwiches together.
The last 45 minutes we had people standing in line for 2 dry sandwiches on a plate and a glass of tea. When I could, I would serve them a glass of tea, saying, "Would you like a drink while you wait?"
When the line was down to the last 7 or 8 people, the tea began running thin from the last urn. "Please, God, let me just have tea for these last few." I thought of the loaves and the fishes. I regretted having given refills earlier. Miraculously, it lasted -- just.
Each person thanked me for the tea. Most thanked us for the meal. No one complained that the early birds had gotten turkey or ham on real bread. They were all just good sports and thankful for a bite on a hot day.
When it was all over, LO once again rose to the challenge and cleaned up the kitchen like a pro. Billy came in with his final count.
We had fed 103 people.
We got in the car to return to our home, our nice, cool, secure home, and LO turned to me and said,
"That was fun."