In the downtown of the community I served for a few years, there was a small café with a counter. The place was always full of attorneys, bankers, city hall workers and members of their support staffs. The food was inexpensive, the plates were over flowing with carbohydrates and the room was loud.
The counter was at the front of the café and it was always full. But the men (it was almost always men) who sat at the counter drank coffee and passed the time in hushed tones barely speaking to each other. Almost out of the blue, heaping plates of the local fare would arrive, the coffee would always be pushed aside and the fortunate person at the counter would attack their food. Once satisfied the man who received the lunch would leave the premises without paying and their place would be taken by another person. No words about this were ever spoken.
I got in tune with these phenomena because the Mayor of the city asked me why I wasn’t pitching in. Pitching in for what, I asked and he told me of ‘my responsibility’. I was taken aback, I mean I paid taxes etc. and I never really considered ‘my responsibility’. Well it turned out that my responsibility was that for every meal I ate, I needed to buy one for a man at the counter. That was the way the place ran. They provided the coffee and the counter, but the business, governmental, and legal professionals bought the lunches.
I bite, handed the waitress $5.00 and watched as another man was fed. Sure enough he got up and left after gulping his food and of course another fellow took his place. As I observed, the restaurant was collecting bit more money than counter diners. Still the beat went on and each person, man, woman or child who needed fed was offered food. It was a stirring thing to watch.
Over time I often contributed and I come to know that if I was unwilling to pitch in $5.00 I should not go there for lunch or dinner. In a way the system worked perfectly. Each person who went in was fed, and the professionals contributed to the health and wellbeing of the community. Of course there were a few counter regulars, and some men who would drop in and out of the café depending on season, or how they might be doing.
One day while in the restaurant a small argument ensued over a fellow who complained of his meal for some reason. Neither the owner nor patrons lifted a finger to intervene. The police officers at the back table did not move and no show of force was offered. The men at the counter practiced self-censure and in a short time the complainer was ushered out and I never saw him again.
The final cool thing happened at Christmas time. In our city every year we did a telephone action for three agencies. The Rescue Mission, a Christmas charity and the Salvation Army all split whatever was raised, from the weekend long auction and donation telethon. It was not unusual to raise half a million dollars for these charities. Each was and is mainstays of the community and workers, businesses and professionals all over the community contributed money.
In the middle of the auction a familiar face was introduced and the mystery of the over collection was solved. The announcement was made that diners at the café in downtown had taken up a collection and were donating the proceeds. It was one of the gentlemen from the diner and he said that the homeless lunch club had collected some money for the effort. He had cash for around $400.00 and he and a group of fellow homeless guys were on TV and as proud as could be. The extra money each day at the restaurant was saved and they took it to the fund raising event. To them, they had raised the money, which I suppose they had. It was cool to see everyone in the community involved, even the fellows who could not contribute. A broad based consensus, even for the recipients of the ultimate aide.
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Rick