Coffee, Stars, and Just a Touch of Magic

I got to chat with a new pantry guest early this morning.

Well, they are not a “new” guest I guess.  I mean, I have seen them before. But this is the first time they were willing to engage with me.

The interaction started like the previous attempt I made had.  I saw them at the pantry, and it was when I had just woken up so I had not been out to fill it yet.  Usually it is almost empty the first thing every morning, so I assumed they didn’t find much in it.

I saw them walk to the corner and stand waiting for the light to change.  “Good morning!” I said loudly from the porch.  “Was there any food in there??”.

They turned to look at me.  But no reply.

“Did you find any food in the pantry?  Do you need something?” I tried again.

They raised their hands and gestured to me.  “Ahhh yes!” I remembered.  “This happened the last time I tried to talk with them…  Maybe they are Deaf…”.

I gestured back.  Hungry?  Food?  Drink?

They gestured something I did not understand – it looked like a number 3, then a “w” drawn in the air.

Hmmm.

I signed, “Deaf??”.

They stared.

And then they spoke. 

But they spoke very quietly.  On a busy street corner.  When I was standing on the porch – not near them.

“What?” I asked, hoping for more volume.

Again, WORDS, but what?

I hurried down the stairs, hoping if I was close and could hear, we might share a common language.

“Are you hungry?  Would you like some food?  Comida?”  I asked, adding in a couple of gestures for good measure.

“What?  Me?  Eat?” was the very quiet reply.

I tried again, and they whispered another answer.

“We have food.  Do you want some?” I tried.

“You have fruit??” I thought I heard.

“Yes, we have fruit!  Banana??   How about a cup of hot coffee?” I offered.

“Coffee??  Are you ok with that??” they timidly replied.

“Yes!  Yes!!  Coffee!  Please wait here.  If you want, sit on these steps.”

“Sit?  Are you ok with that??” they asked politely.

“Yes, yes.  Sit if you like.  Coffee – milk and sugar??”.

“Yes.  Milk.  And sugar.”

I rushed in to make a coffee and gather some food that might work for them.  From their clothing and bags, they appeared to not have housing, so I chose things that could be eaten without heating if necessary, and threw in a can opener in case they needed one.  I also picked up a backpack in case their current bags were too full to hold the food.

When I came back outside they had indeed accepted the offer to sit on the steps.  And they had turned on their phone to listen to music while resting in the sun.

“Coffee!” I said as I presented the steaming hot cup and sat the basket full of food choices down.

“I have everything…  But do not have my passport…” they nervously explained.

Ahhhh, maybe that was the confusion!  They may have thought they needed to register or qualify for help here.

“Oh no!  No passport needed.  No papers.  This is not the government.  Not the state or the county.  This is just us.”

I am not sure that was clear them, but they accepted the coffee and I sat down with them.

We chatted as they very carefully added the sugar and cream to their coffee.  I learned that they have two children.  I learned what country they came here from.  I learned that they are working with a great local agency to get support, but do not quite understand how it all works.

“Do you have employment??” they asked.

“No, sorry.  We do not have any jobs here.  But your case manager will help you with that.”

It was clear that they really want to work.  They were so gentle and sweet.

“I don’t want to go to jail.  When you sit, the people, the people with uniforms, they come to talk.  Mostly the police.  I do not want to go to jail.”

It’s so sad.  Horrible to have to have that constant fear of getting into trouble.

There was some confusion over how things work.  “I have SNAP.  But the card…  The card does not work…”.

I tried to figure out what the problem was, and explained if they walked to the county building just a few blocks from our home, they could get help with their SNAP card.

“No, I go there, but you have to go 5 times.  Always new people.”

And somehow, somewhere, they had learned this:  if you find a penny and pick it up, your SNAP stops working.

“Well, this is not SNAP.  This food is FREE.  No papers.  No SNAP.  Just free,” I explained as I offered them the basked again.

As we chatted, another sweet pantry guest approached.  I made sure to offer our new friend first dibs on everything I had chosen specially for them.  They really only wanted a water, Gatorade, and the coffee.  The second guest then looked thru the loot (I had brought up really special items – a summer sausage, box of Girl Scout cookies, and more).  That person was so happy!  When looking at the cookies, they said, “Ninos!” and I smiled and said, “Si, ninos!”.  Those kids are going to be happy when they come home from school.

I needed to get back inside to start my work day so had to excuse myself.  But not before my new friend told me that I was very nice, and that they really like our “Just Be Kind” sign.

“You see the stars??” they said, pointing at the sky.

“Oh yes!  Every night.  I love to look at the stars.”

“And the moon,” they added.

Ah yes.  The stars and moon.

No matter where we live.  Whatever country.  Whatever house or apartment or street corner we call home.

We can all look up at the stars and the moon.

Before I came back inside the guest taught me a trick.  I will share it here with you.  They tell me it works even better with bigger paper, but sugar packets is what we had on hand.

I love that they shared this magic with me.  Sharing coffee is easy.  Sharing conversation is fun. 

But sharing magic??  Well, that is something very special indeed.