Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, May 1, 2013; 5:45-9:00 pm

I was actually looking forward to this project.  Now, I enjoy all of the Chicago Cares projects, but I was actually looking forward to this one.  It was a pleasant evening and I walked over from my office and arrived to find that most of the volunteers were already there.  I checked in with Miranda and saw that Marianne was wearing her glasses.  I asked what happened to her contacts and she said that she was still having difficulty, but would figure it out eventually.  I saw that Lisa was there and she looked at me and said, “You made it”, as if I had to conquer unimaginable odds to make it here!  Well, since she puts it this way, it was after all a walk of over half a mile.

Dessert's again, but who's complaining

Marianne remembered me as being the dessert man during my previous visit and thus assigned me to dessert duties once again, not that I had any problems with that.  Today we had 6 bundt cakes and 18 mini pecan pies, which we had to cut and distribute amongst 21 plates.  This wasn’t exactly a lot of quantity to work with.  Typically, ladies of a senior center bake desserts for this program, but had been unable to do so this evening.  Thus everything was coming out of a box.  We had to make do with what we had, so I started by cutting the cake into 16 pieces and the pecan pies into 2.  I was joined by a gentleman, Frank, who was helping me plate.  Marianne saw that there wasn’t nearly enough to fill up 21 plates and also gave us boxes of mini brownies and some mini cookies.  Frank and I arranged the plates and then adjusted the quantities to ensure that the 21 plates were almost similar. 

As we were working on this, Keith who is one of the main people at this program along with Marianne, was escorting a gentleman through the kitchen and showing him the operations.  It was evident that this visitor was someone important and when we introduced ourselves, he asked me where I was from.  When people ask me this question, I know what they mean, but I prefer to answer “I am from Chicago”.  I mean, I could show them my driver’s license to show my proof of residence.  I often find it interesting the people feel it important to trace someone’s place of birth, as if that defines them.  What does define a person is their life experiences and how they have dealt with them, and I feel that makes me as much from Chicago as from Pittsburgh or even Connecticut.  However, I told him that I was born in India, at which he told me about a time he was visiting Mumbai and had ridden in one of the public transport trains.  I asked him what time of day it was because peak hours can make that one of the most harrowing journeys for the locals, let alone foreign visitors.  He said that he had survived, though one of the men who tried getting into a ladies car was not so lucky had had been soundly beaten for this indiscretion!  The visitor moved on and since we had finished stacking our desserts on the cart, I went for the next task, which was moving the fruit salad bowls into the refrigerator.  Most of the things were under control and for the rest of the time before serving, I caught up with Lisa on various projects and our professional lives.  She was in the middle of looking for a new condo and also studying to be a ‘fellow’ in actuarial sciences.  We talked about it till Keith gathered us around for the evening’s announcements. 

The main course

Once again, Keith and Marianne started by reminding us of the rules, including not giving the guests any money, no matter how little for they said that even 25 cents can buy drugs on the streets.  They told us to have fun and it was obvious that they were enjoying themselves, because there was a lot of playfulness between the two, which can only come from working together for a long time.  Before we left the kitchen, once again Marianne asked us to hold hands and pray, as per our comfort.  She asked for volunteers to choose duties and I said that I would do the juice again.  I went out to see that the band had started playing already and the room had been filled.  I started by putting the plates of food on trays for the runners to carry.  Today’s menu was Spaghetti and Meat sauce, something that I had some experience with at Inspiration Café.  I started on juice and like before, it was a very efficient operation and very soon we had covered almost all of the room.  There were a lot of friendly guests and I also saw Tash, who is becoming a regular at Chicago Cares events and who was fulfilling the nurse’s assistant’s duty this evening. 

As I walked through the room, I saw a table with some books on it, celebrating something called 'The World Book Night’.  I had no idea what that meant, neither had I heard of the book that was being promoted – ‘The House On Mango Street’.  One of the other volunteers, Lindsey was there with me and I said I hadn’t heard of it but since the cover was promoting 25-year anniversary, it must be important just because of that.  Soon the dinner service was over, and I helped Lisa collect the salt and pepper shakers, before helping with stacking chairs and tables. The band was wrapping up and they  played a song as dedication to Marianne, during which she even danced a bit. At the end, Keith gathered us around and also thanked the visiting dignitary, whom he identified as an ‘Alderman’.  Now, I can’t tell the difference between an Alderman and a Spiderman to save my life.  I asked Lisa about it and she said he was some sort of city official, since she had gone to someone with a similar title to get a car parking permit.  Well, whomever he was, Keith seemed honored to have him visit and serve.

 

Keith then told us about a ‘Hunger Walk’, that is happening on June 29^th and he wanted to recruit members for the ‘Breaking Bread’ team.  I told him that I would definitely consider joining him and Marianne.  I did a couple of walks last year and although you are walking alongside thousands of other people, it is somewhat lonely if you are by yourself.  Hence I prefer volunteering for such events, but if I was receiving an invitation to join a team, I would prefer to walk alongside them.  I hugged Marianne and Keith before leaving and all of us also joined together in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ for Keith who turned 57. This was just my second time here, but I already feel close to these people. “57 years young”, I said to Keith.  He said “Absolutely” and based on his energy, that is an accurate description.