There's Always a Solution

 We were at the lake and I had worked hard to clean the house while my husband fished.  It looked great.  I looked at my kitchen and thought, There is no way I am going to cook and mess that up.  Plus I don't want to clean it again.  Now what should I do?  My husband will be in from fishing soon and experience tells me he will be hungry.  There is only one small cafe' close to our house.  Again my brilliant minds shifted into high gear.  I'll go down to the cafe' and get a couple of burgers and fries.  I can make it back before Sam gets home.

Arriving at the cafe' I immediately saw that no one was there.  No cars!  No people inside!  No lights on inside!  What now?  The small store down the street sells pizza.  Sam is not a pizza person.  He might have to be tonight.  My thoughtful wife voice said.  Still thinking of what to do, I put the car in reverse and began to back up.  At just that moment the owner of the cafe' came out of the marina office.

I lowered my window and asked, "Are you open?"  He replied, "Yes, I'm open, but I'm running around doing a hundred other things.  What do you need?"  I asked, "Can you make a couple of burgers for me?"  "Sure"  "May I come in?"  "Yes, but you might be put to work in here."  "That's alright.  I've done it before."  He unlocked the door and we both went in.  Quickly he handed me a menu and said, "Look at this and tell me what you want.  I'll be back in a minute."  Almost as quickly as he came, he walked out the door.  Now what do I do?  I waited for a few minutes.  He came back.  "Did you figure out what you wanted."  "Yes, two burgers, two fries, and two corn dogs."  "I'll get right on it."  He got out the meat and again left the cafe'.  I waited.  After a few minutes,  I thought He is never going to make my burgers.  I walked to the grill and frier, felt both and discovered they were still hot.  I started cooking my burgers. 

The owner returned and didn't seem at all surprised that I was cooking.  "Did you find everything you need?"  He asked as he laid out the buns.  The door opened and an older couple came in.  "Can I help you?"  The owner asked.  "Two burgers and two fries."  They answered.  The owner got out two more patties and I put them on the grill.  The owner got out the fries and I put them in the frier.  He finished putting the fixings on the buns and they were ready for the meat patties.  The fries finished cooking and he took them to the couple.  Again he left to check on something at the marina.  I put the cooked meat on the buns and served the couple.  The door opened and a man came in.  "He'll be right back."  I told him.

I finished my order and was wrapping it when the owner came back in.  "I'm finished.  What do I owe you?"  "Oh I'm not going to charge you for this.  I appreciate your help and you can come back and help me anytime you're bored."  I laughed and told him I just might do that.  When I told my husband, he said I probably needed a part-time job and he would talk to the owner about it.  It was fun, but I don't want to do it on a regular basis.

But look at it this way.  I took home restaurant food that I didn't pay for.  I cooked in someone else's kitchen that I didn't have to clean.  My kitchen stayed spotless.  Not a bad deal.



What's Behind the Fence?

Lately, there has been much discussion about law enforcement's failure to look behind the fence in the Jaycee Dugard case.  And rightly so. This was a child held captive for 18 years.  That would be a ridiculously long time if law enforcement had never come to the house.  However, they did come to the house.  They came often and never looked behind the fence--even when alerted by neighbors.  That is inexcusable.  People everywhere are shouting "Why didn't they look behind the fence?"

But wait!  Sometimes we fail to look 'behind the fence' in our interactions with people on a daily basis.  We don't bother to look behind the facade they show.  We don't see the pain and need behind their perfect picture.  That's not true, you scream at your computer screen.  Oh, but it is, my friend.

Several years ago, I was working as an educational diagnostician in a district where the median family income was above the level eligible for any kind of assistance.  Most were considered middle class or upper middle class.  I was informed that a student who had previously dropped out of school had returned.  He had not been enrolled in school during the time he was required by federal law to be evaluated for Special Education services.  An Educational Diagnostician's worst nightmare.  It means 'drop what you are doing and evaluate this student NOW'. 

I went to the school, called for the student to come to the office, and we proceeded with the evaluation.  Sitting before me was a 19 year old boy, about 6 ft tall, weighing about 130 lbs.  He was either far too tall or far too skinny.  I could see the bones in his shoulders, face, and wrists. 

Several times during the evaluation, he put his head down on the table.  I asked if he was alright.  He answered  that his parents had kicked him out of the house a year ago.  He lived on his own in a garage apartment and worked at the pizza place.  The only time he ate was when he was at work.  He had not worked the day before so had not eaten.  I asked why he had not eaten at school and he replied that he could not afford to pay the $2.00 for a lunch. 

Immediately, I told the counselor and she began processing the paperwork for free and reduced lunch status.  He was so excited that he couldn't stand still.  That done, we knew he could eat breakfast and lunch five days a week.

On Monday morning, several weeks later, I went back to the school to visit with Zach.  He sat down, but before I could begin our conversation he said, "Miss, you should have seen what I saw last night."

"What did you see, Zach?"

"My friend's parents said I could crash at their house until graduation and I moved in this weekend.  Last night his mother called us to eat.  We sat down and I saw steak, baked potatoes, and salad.  It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.  I just sat there starring at it.  They said, Aren't you going to eat?  They didn't understand how beautiful it was."

At that moment, I thought my boys take meals like that for granted. 

We all tend to get wrapped up in our own worlds and forget that others may not be as blessed as we are.  Today as you are enjoying your blessings, don't forget to 'look behind the fence' of your neighbor and see their need.