HE WANTED A SHOWER!

     As I drove into the parking lot, there was only one car there.
     "No volunteers showed up last night, it's only been Louie all night," my homeless buddies informed me as I started a walk that began toward the door to enter, but quickly became a moonwalk back to my car.  OK, I didn't do that!  But I thought about it.  This was going to be one tough morning at the shelter!  Or was it....
      Louie asked all the folks to pitch in.  They had already set up the whole shelter, the dishes were done, and as I walked down to the hall mats were stacked, pillows were placed and sheets were in a big pile.  Nice!
       Then we started to bag stuff.  Laundry was taken upstairs.  People worked together to get mountainous walls of mats to the dungeon.  Chairs were put up.  Tables were cleaned.  What normally ends up being a "let's hurry up to get out of here by 7:20" process was done by 6:55.
       Two thoughts hit me as I talked to a former concrete manager.  One was how invested people who were part of the process are.  When I commented about how it was better when the volunteers didn't show up, one guy said, "Hey, we all want to get out of here!"  We had a common goal!
       It made me really think about what Compassion International does.  They take people from the village they already live in and let them be the solution to all the problems.  Genius!
       The second thought that crossed my mind was after the concrete guy had just organized the whole clean-up operation, got the laundry out, organized people to stack the mats, and was sweating profusely.  He went up to Louie, the PADS staff member, and said, "All's I want for this is to be able to take a shower."
        He just wanted to take a shower!
       When I walked in that place my first thought was, "I'm going to be here late, then have to take the laundry, and I'm going to have to be moving for the whole hour."  At one point, the thought even occurred to me, "I've got to stop coming to this shelter - it's too much work."
        He just wanted a shower!
      This really isn't about me.  To be honest, I found out today that the shelter is pretty much going to go on with our without me.  I've gotten kind of accustomed to playing the martyr.  But, it's a privilege to be there, and maybe, just maybe, today was a good reminder.
       What can I do to help is a lot better than how hard is this going to be!