Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church
Date: Wednesday, June 17, 2015; 5:30-8:00 pm
Marianne had asked for help on this special occasion where, our usual Dining Hall would be converted to a “High-end”
Restaurant for one evening. She had also
asked us to wear Black and White, since we were going to be the “wait staff” for tonight. In fact, at work when someone asked about my
attire, I said that I was going to be waiting tables tonight. Later on they asked if I was getting late for
my “other job”. Aah well, I probably brought that upon
myself. I arrived to see a lot of
activity underway, with the usual hustle and bustle. There were plenty of volunteers present,
though most of them were regulars. Marianne
greeted me and before I could even wash up, she asked all of the wait staff to
assemble outside. We were soon joined by
a bunch of college students who were a “mission
group” visiting Chicago. Marianne
took a group picture and said that the students would be our assistants. There were 9 of us on the wait staff and with
18 tables, it I got Tables 17 and 18. My
assistant for these tables would be a kid named Austin.
 |
| Will it be 'Blue' or 'Pink'? |
There were 2 entrees – “Roast
Chicken” and “Meatloaf” and the
wait staff’s main job was to go to the guests on our assigned tables and ask
for their preference. Then, we were to
put next to their plates either a blue “post-it
note” for chicken or a pink one for meatloaf. Based on the colors, I joked that maybe we
were indicating that men liked chicken and women meatloaf! After we had taken the orders on our
notepads, we were to come back to the kitchen. Then, our assistants would carry the tray with
the plates and we would place the plate on the table. Plus, the assistants would be required to
serve water and juice. It certainly
looked like I would have very little to do, or at least not as much as the regular
shift over here.
I chatted with Marianne as the “kitchen volunteers” chopped fruits for salad. Marianne was showing someone how to cut melon
and I said if I did it the professional way, I would probably chop off all my
fingers! I was glad to see that today we
were serving the vegetable salad in individual bowls, meaning minimum wastage. I asked Austin to keep an eye on our table
and ensure that the water was constantly refilled. But we had only 2 guests on Table 18 and one
on 17. The students were keeping everyone
company by spreading out and chatting with the guests. I went and told the guests that I would be
their wait person and listed the specials.
All of them chose chicken, following which I then put the blue notes by
their plates.
Tonight’s musical guest was different than usual and was
playing an acoustic guitar. I was
admiring his music, when Marianne called everyone inside for the usual
introductions and prayer. When we went
out again, I saw that 2 additional guests had come to Table 17. I took their order and this time, we had one
chicken and finally, one meatloaf. With
all orders taken Marianne called us table-by-table and when our turn came,
Austin and I went to our guests and served them. After the main course we served a plate of
desserts, which were cakes and pies. Once the first round was done, Marianne
announced seconds and a large line formed.
Very soon all the food had been served and everyone started leaving,
while we cleaned up.
I chatted with the students, who were from South Dakota, and
I asked them what was there to do and see.
It looks like besides Mt Rushmore, there isn’t much going on there,
though South Dakota would be a stop on my tour.
They said that they all go to a different cuisine every night of their stay in Chicago, and it
wasn’t being revealed where they would be going tonight – having been to Greek
and Jamaican the last couple of nights.
They had been fantastic, as were the regular volunteers – all of who
have their assigned Wednesdays – 1st, 2nd etc. This had been a great idea, to provide our guests
an experience that they typically do not have every week. Marianne said that she appreciated me as
usual and I left content that we had done a great job.
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