My friends and I volunteer at a shelter that has great housing assistance and job placement programs. All the men are to remain sober while going through the program and must submit to periodic testing. Anyway, a few times each month we go and cook a meal for the residents, nearly one hundred in total. Because of the frequency of our visit you get to know the guys, not usually by name but you recognize them and remember what they like or prefer.
This evening there was one guy who was obviously new. He was reluctant to get into line and appeared unsure what to do but eventually got his first serving. We always have enough for the guys to eat their fill and some of them really put it away. At the end of service we still had some really tasty pasta salad with BBQ'd chicken liberally added and I noticed that only one person didn't come through the line again, the same guy who seemed out of sorts. Despite the fact that they can always eat what we make as leftovers I filled a heaping bowl and took it to where he was sitting.
Later, as we were packing up to leave he came up and thanked me for noticing that he didn't get seconds. He said it was nice to be acknowledged and to know that someone was paying attention. It doesn't take much to make a difference in someone's life, we just need to remind ourselves to slow down occasionally and think about what we see. With that in mind, I am asking everyone to take a moment this weekend and pay attention to someone you might not otherwise. You would be surprised how much people appreciate as little as a greeting.
Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 100/f2.8L IS
100mm, f5.6, 1/100 sec @ 400 ISO
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