The Last Supper

This morning I got to watch the process in which they give out tickets for the soup kitchen and sandwiches. I sat on the porch and saw the line that went all the way down the steps and around the corner. The tickets were supposed to be handed out at 8:30 this morning but because Gladys was not content with how the line looked they got handed out late. A woman who caused me to turn my head quite a few times yesterday was the very first in line today and I watched her practically have sex with the man in line behind her. I hope that she did not do that just to get in front of the line. Others looked confused as to why Gladys would not pass out the tickets but again the language barrier got in the way. The Latinos were not single file but in rows of 3 and they would not move.

Rumors have been flying around all morning about James. Tony has already forgotten him and refuses to be around a conversation about James. James Walker said he saw it coming because he talked too much and did too little. Darryl said he was kicked out of the house because he had $20 that the partners had found and he would not give it to them. Johnathon, his pastoral friend, confirmed the later rumor. I hope James is ok and can make it back to New Orleans, his clean haven.

During the soup kitchen I saw myself and or fellow friend being served. She was a white, 20 year old who was gorgeous! She looked just like all my friends pretty much do and I just did not understand why she was there. It definitely made me become less stereotypical since a lot of us are only one or two paychecks away from being homeless ourselves. The stereotype of mostly black men being homeless is being shattered as Latino men are entering the scene along with white business men and white women. I can never look at a person walking down the street and assume if they are homeless or not. I have seen the hottest, nicest dressed man sleeping on cardboard outside my window and the scummiest, nastiest, smelliest man eating at the nice restaurant across the street.

With the breaking of stereotypes comes racial tension. Volunteers who work the yard see the cliques and can even feel the tension. I watched it 1st hand as I was serving soup at the soup kitchen and a black man and a Latino man exchanged tense words and looks. I had to turn to a man to keep his eyes on them to make sure it would not turn violent because it probably would have caused more people to fight than just those two.

It is said that if you want to know what society is going to look like in a couple years you need to look to the prisons now. Lately prisons in California have been erupting with riots between the Latinos and the Blacks. The work force is not helping as they continually keep putting the two groups against each other, adding to the animosity. Black men are finally receiving work and feeling more than just slaves in society but are told by unemployment agencies that the Latinos are taking their jobs which is causing the Blacks to stand up for themselves yet again. Racism is a never ending battle in a mixing pot.

Our Bible Study of the day was about John the Baptist. We talked about how he stood up to his convictions and kept telling Herod how he should not have married his brother’s wife; however, in the end it cost him his life. Marvin, an ex-pastor and current protestor for social justice, shared his story. In the last minutes before an execution on death row Marvin pleaded and begged the officers to let him die instead. I do not think I could give my life for a man on death row who had been convicted of murdering countless people, but Marvin is a man true to all convictions that death row is really just the taxpayers of Georgia murdering a man.

Johnathon is a 29 year old graduate who came to the house to volunteer while he was in college. He comes from your typical family but he is the only one in his family who thrives on social justice. He came and has never left because the smiles on people’s faces keep him going every day, but is sad that same day he might have to get a “real job” to appease his parents.

I always wondered what the neighbors thought as they walked out their back doors to go to work every morning and would see men standing all around; I got my answer today. The doorbell rang and a young musician named Deedee came to the door. She just moved in and her bedroom window peaked into our dining room and she could not help but want to get involved right away. Her roommate was nervous about moving in next to a shelter but she cannot wait to get involved. I am so glad that not all the neighbors are moving in to just try and get them to move out like I have heard that some have done in the past.

When in our dinner circle they announced it was my last supper and my eyes immediately teared up. I had done well up to this point but when it was stated out loud I did not want to think about leaving. I had grown to love these residents and our homeless friends and relationships were just starting to build; I was not ready to go. I sat with Tony and we laughed at our good times and when we told the med students at the table that we had just met a few days before they were shocked at how good our connection was after such a short time; however, these med students started to not care and dominate the conversation with their kind of community talk. Tony and I may not have known what our favorite organ system was or our favorite gland but we sure got a laugh out of seeing that it dominated their conversation and was the cause to their controversy. I guess some students did not get along because they disagreed on their organ systems. Who knew?

We tore down the dining room fast and transformed it into a foot clinic and I watched as our homeless friends lined up to be pampered for awhile. The guys were grossing me out about it all afternoon and telling me stories that made me decide not to participate but I still stayed and helped clean up the equipment so I could keep talking to my new found friends.

When it was time to go I tried to find Tony to say goodbye but Ira caught me first. He started to come over and give me a hug and I asked him not to because he was going to make me cry but he did anyways and the tears flowed. I hurried up and passed off the key to the person in house duty and walked out.

These people have caused me to think more, work harder, and love with all my heart in ways I just did not know existed. I cannot wait to go back and stay longer!!!