Serving a meal at The Lord's Diner....

.....from the Lord's Diner website: "The Lord’s Diner serves dinner nightly from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., 7 days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays. A small paid staff, assisted by more than 5,500 volunteers representing many faiths and denominations prepare and serve a hot, nutritious meal in a spirit of compassion, respect and loving service. The Lord’s Diner is currently serving an average of 400 meals nightly".

It was the first Tuesday of the month (assistance checks had arrived the dining room director told us), and so it was a fairly light night (by the diner's standards). At times, the Lord's Diner will serve over 500 people in just under two hours. Tonight, when the doors opened, there was a huge rush. At first we were so busy scooping and dishing, that we couldn't really look up or around. As the first wave passed, we were able to take a breath and notice our surroundings. Behind us stands a team of men who restock the serving trays - "more potatoes...more bread", we call out as we need refills.

Some guests are open and friendly, some are drunk or high, some are surly, quite a few just shuffle past with trays and drinks, not saying a word, not making eye contact. There are more families with small children than ever before.

The sensory experience is hard to describe -steam in our faces from the storage carts that hold the hot food, the strong smell of cigarette smoke and unwashed humans as the diners pass by, the foot or leg ache from standing so long in one spot, how hard it is to maintain mountain pose during breather times (still that tendency to "sit" on one hip). The rubber mat that I was standing on ended at my right foot, so my left foot was an inch lower at my station. And...why is there always an itch on your face, just when you have clean hands and clean gloves on them? Ha!

The t-shirts worn by the diners with slogans like: "Carpe Diem", "I'm Excited To Be Here", "Power to the People" "River Run", etc. seemed to mock the plight of the person receiving this hot, free meal.

And, this being my home town for nearly half a century.......I did see someone I once knew. Someone who, 20+ years ago had a job, and an apartment, and friends to hang out with. Someone who looked right past me and did not see me. Someone once very much like me. Someone I was once very much like.

2010 will be my 5th year as a Lord's Diner volunteer.