Several years ago, when I was around the age of seven, and still living in Virginia, my daisy Girl Scout troop and I all decided that we would get a very early head on community service by volunteering at a soup kitchen in our near vacinity. Although we were not old enough to help prepare food, we were allowed to set up the tables, lay out the food in an asthtetically pleasing way, and entertain the poor people who came to eat. One man in particular caught almost my entire Girl Scout troop’s interest. He had a sense of disparity compared to the others who had come to the Soup Kitchen. If I had seen the very same man at this point in time, I would probably consider absconding as my first method of action. Now, he was not the most friendly looking man, mind you. However, back then I was much more open to the idea of not judging a book by its cover. So, of course, many of my fellow Girl Scouts and I went over to talk to the man. We found out that the reason that he bacame poor was due to a deadly disease he developed, and he did not have the money to pay off the hospital bills without going into debt. Although his health had improved greatly when we had met him, he still had to wear a device to keep himself breathing properly. His wife left him because apparently she found him useless after he became ill and poor. While he did greatly enjoy the food, I believe that our company is what really put a genuine smile on his face. I think what he really liked the most was having so many people talking to him, and making him feel less alone. We were taking turns for at least two hours to defeat him in tic-tac-toe! Sadly, we realized that we had no chance, so we gave up and deemed him the master.
Although it was a long time ago, and we received no physical payment, that was probably one of the most memorable nights I have ever had. I really hope to volunteer at another soup kitchen again some day!
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