I gave out ten backpacks last week. But thanks to EBay we have plenty left. Bottles of water and bananas are plentiful too. But Im down to 18 pairs of socks, 4 XL t-shirts and about four toothbrushes. And I wish there was a way to get tennis shoes to people in their size but so far weve only managed that for people we see often. Few stories from the week: An older lady near the grocery store had a small sack on her back with rope straps (ouch) filled with her earthly possessions. When I offered her one of our backpacks her eyes got wide like Christmas and then she hesitated and said, Its too nice! Dont you need that for yourself? It was like she thought I would change my mind. Just wow. I had 20 more in my trunk and felt richer than the queen in that moment. Then last Sunday I went to buy something chicken-related and I saw three guys taking turns holding up a single sign at the freeway offramp. There was no way to get to them without making a u-turn, getting on the freeway going the wrong direction, turning around, getting back on the freeway to go back, and then getting off at a certain exit. I debated whether or not to put the energy into that but finally decided that it was worth it since Ive never been able to reach that area with backpacks. And when I did all of that (taking about 10 minutes) I hit the dumb green light and missed them entirely! I ended up having to do that whole maneuver TWICE. But they all had dirty plastic bags with holes and a pile of stuff on the ground. One guy mentioned, We had our stuff but no way to carry it! Another guy was missing most of his arm but still managed to swing his backpack on joyfully. When the light turned green the car in front of me didnt move. The driver had just been staring open-mouthed at these men enjoying their backpacks with huge smiles! I was at Target for a kid-free bread and milk run and I had just returned to the parking lot when an older man walked in front of me with disgusting clothes. He carried three Target bags filled with stuff. I said hi and realized he couldnt speak. I started to sign but he was mute, not deaf. I asked if hed like a backpack and he looked really surprised and nodded. I got one out of my trunk and not two seconds after I handed it to him he plopped right down on the ground in the parking lot and started transferring his possessions over like a little kid. (And I noticed he had red lines on his hands from carrying those bags.) Everything fit. As i pulled out to leave I saw him in my mirror grinning largely and waving enthusiastically.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Jun 2014 05:39:52 +0000
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