\u00a0You know those days when \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I was having one of those \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Logically, I know the main \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Logically, oh that good ol\u2019 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Logically. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And yet I keep \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So today was one of those \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What was bothering me was \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n First \u2013 expired stuff.\u00a0 Like \u2013 fruit bars that expired in 2024.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to eat \u2018em??\u00a0 Neither do the people coming to the pantry. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Next \u2013 dog COOKIES.\u00a0 Yes, a pack of cookies that looked just like \u201chuman \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then \u2013 a POT and a PAN.\u00a0 No matter how many times I explain in various \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, steaming mad, I marched \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n BROKEN GLASS. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Big chunks of thick broken \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The same sidewalk that, in \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, instead of eating \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I stomped back in the house, \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Then the doorbell rang. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I opened the door to find \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIs David here?\u201d they \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And instantly, I knew.\u00a0 I am not sure how I knew, but I knew.\u00a0 This was the pantry guest that David told me \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo, David isn\u2019t here, can \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh, umm, I was just \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou are _____, aren\u2019t \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYes, yes I am.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDavid told me about \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I filled a bag with things \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I presented them the bag \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh yes!\u00a0 You cut and eat, right??\u201d they \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yup.\u00a0 Cut, eat, and yum.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I was rushed to get back \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo\u2026\u00a0 No.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Seriously, \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They were so kind, so \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell, just know that we \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They asked about a computer \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can leave that heavy \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh no, no.\u00a0 I have the car,\u201d they reminded me. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Ahhh yes.\u00a0 They live in their car\u2026\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOh that\u2019s right \u2013 you have \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYes ma\u2019am, my car is \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hopes and dreams. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Those fuel their vehicle. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Heck, hopes and dreams \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The guest left. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I closed the door and turned \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tears in my eyes. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Hopes and dreams in my \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And a renewed sense of \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\neverything, and I do mean <\/span>everything<\/i>, gets on your nerves?<\/span><\/p>\n
\ntoday.
\nreason for it:\u00a0 I TAKE ON TOO MUCH.\u00a0 It is overwhelming.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do it all, can\u2019t keep it
\nstraight.\u00a0 Things fall through the
\ncracks.\u00a0 And I \u201cfail\u201d.\u00a0 At least in my view I fail.
\nlogic again, logically I know that it is not failure.\u00a0 I am simply overwhelmed, have bit off more
\n(far more) than I can chew.\u00a0 No one could
\nkeep up the pace and not drop some balls.
\ntrying.\u00a0 Keep adding to the to do list
\n(then losing the list).
\ndays.
\nthe PANTRY.\u00a0 It is really busy right now,
\nand each time I went out to check it I would find something annoying.
\ncookies\u201d but in the fine print were for dogs.\u00a0
\nIn a pantry that serves everyone \u2013 people who do not read or speak
\nEnglish, children, people who cannot read at all.\u00a0 DOG TREATS.\u00a0
\nNo.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want a guest eating a
\nwhole pack of dog treats.
\nsocial media groups that we do not, that we cannot<\/b>, accept things other
\nthan food and toiletries, people persist.\u00a0
\nThey put things in the pantry that they think would be helpful to others
\n\u2013 bags, plastic silverware, books, a pen yesterday, empty take-out serving
\ncontainers, plates, bowls, clothes, shoes\u2026\u00a0
\nOften it is things that they do not want to throw away, so they put them
\nin the pantry or on the little shelf underneath it that is meant to hold the
\nbasket while we fill up the shelves.\u00a0 And
\nwe just can\u2019t handle it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know
\nhow to explain that it is not our mission.\u00a0
\nWe can\u2019t be the one-stop-shop.\u00a0 And
\nwe most certainly are not Goodwill.\u00a0 So
\ndon\u2019t leave various stuff here (I always insert a \u201cplease\u201d after this rant\u2026).
\nout to pick up the pot and pan that someone had left.\u00a0 And I was confronted with\u2026
\nglass, and many, many tiny shards of it, on our sidewalk and in our lawn.\u00a0 It looked like maybe the person who left the pot
\nand pan also tried to leave a measuring cup or a drinking cup and it shattered
\non the sidewalk.
\njust a couple more hours, school kids would be walking down and riding their
\nbikes on.\u00a0
\nlunch on my short break from work, I swept up glass.\u00a0 And I did it with a very bad attitude,
\ncursing under my breath.\u00a0
\nknowing that I had to get back to work.
\nsomeone I hadn\u2019t met before.
\nasked with an accent.
\nabout a couple of weeks ago.\u00a0 David
\nexplained his country of origin and that he lives in his car.
\nI help you?\u201d I asked.
\nwondering\u2026\u00a0 If you had any food??\u201d they asked
\nsweetly.
\nyou?\u201d I asked.\u00a0 HOW I remembered their
\nname I have no idea.\u00a0 I can barely
\nremember anyone\u2019s name, and somehow this person, someone I had never met and
\nonly heard a brief story about 2 or 3 weeks ago, THEIR NAME I knew.
\nyou!\u00a0 Let me go get you some food.\u201d
\nthat I knew could be eaten without cooking, plus some snacks, treats, and
\ndrinks.\u00a0 And I put in one of my very
\nfavorite special items to hand out.
\nand pulled the special thing out.\u00a0 \u201cSee
\nthis?\u00a0 I love these.\u00a0 They are really good!\u201d I explained as I held
\nup a summer sausage.\u00a0
\nclarified.\u00a0
\nto work, but really wished I had more time to talk.\u00a0 \u201cHey, do you have a can opener??\u201d I asked,
\nknowing that some of the cans I had given them were not flip top.
\nBut I will use a knife,\u201d they explained.
\nwe have can openers!\u00a0 Let me go grab you
\none!\u201d.
\nsensitive.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t want to take a
\ncan opener.\u00a0 \u201cLeave it for others,\u201d they
\nsaid gently, wanting to be respectful.
\nhave more than food.\u00a0 So if you need
\nANYTHING, come here and ask, ok?\u00a0
\nClothes.\u00a0 A coat or hat for
\nwinter.\u00a0 Boots, shoes.\u00a0 If you have a need, we might be able to get
\nit, so come ask,\u201d I explained as they smiled.
\nto use to help with a job search.\u00a0 I
\npointed out the library just down the street and explained I think anyone can
\nwalk in and use a computer.
\nbag of food here if you like.\u00a0 Go down to
\nthe library, use the computer, and come back and pick it up,\u201d I offered.
\na car.\u201d
\nrunning on hopes and dreams,\u201d they said.
\nfuel the world, don\u2019t they?
\nto go back to work.
\nheart.
\npurpose.
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