t.o.t.: one weekend -- saturday

I joined a "Friends of Freethought" group last year out of desire to meet people with no stick-in-the-mud religious or ideological mindset but never got to attend any of their activities until last Saturday, when they had an event at a north Orange County food bank that fit my calendar and I thought could be a good way for me to break in with the group while doing something good.

I arrived there on time and saw many people–young and old, men and women, high school kids and families with little ones–chatting and scattering outside the warehouse on a big parking ground. I knew no one, but kind of guessed out correctly a group of relatively solemn looking and less chatty men and women of 10-15 were the "free thinkers" and joined them.

The host of the event gathered us altogether and gave a brief introduction to the organization–they are a food collection and distribution non-profit that works with nearly 400 local charities, soup kitchens, and community organizations in Orange County and surrounding area for low income people. He divided us up into 3 groups of 20-30 people each, and led us to the warehouse where there were stacks and pallets of food boxes and 3 assembly lines and we started working.

The job was simple, tear up the food boxes, pull out the foods–cereal boxes, tuna cans, juice bottles, milk pouches, etc., and pack them in right order in new boxes, seal them, move them–also flatten the emptied food boxes before disposing of them.

It's a fast paced and stream-lined operation. Everybody quickly learned to pick the task to do and coordinated with others. I started with unpacking the foods, pushing the boxes, then filling in the juice bottles while occasionally cutting open and moving new supply of foods to the assembly line, and flattening a few empty boxes and cartons along the way, without cutting myself with the utility knife I was constantly wielding.

I did get to chat a few lines with Lisa, the lady who organized this event–as well as many others, such as beach cleanup, low-income community rehabilitation, Mexico outreach, etc. that I've seen posted on their website–for the group. She said they had been coming here a few times before, it's a fun activity and many groups vie to do it, so she would count it lucky if they could get to do this twice a year or more.

At 1PM (we started around 11:30) the operation halted. The warehouse was cleared of piles of food boxes that were there just a couple hours ago. All told, we packed 2160 boxes of food in that short period of time, they said. I found it hard to believe at first but then I divided it by 3, that's about 700 boxes per group, and with that frenzy pace I recalled we were at–I felt like having as good a workout session as going to the gym–I was convinced we did do that many.

We then went to a nearby hamburger place for a late lunch together. I sat next to a family of three–a couple with their teen-age daughter–who were very nice but shy; a spunky old lady who high-fived with me during the work who explained to me in details the different Celtic dialects people speak in Wales (where her mother was from) and how the Picts and Britons and Angles and Saxons came and moved about in the British isles; and a man who seemingly carried a rich load of worldly knowledge as well who said he did his Sunday morning communion in sleep when the subject of church going came up at the table.

I bid farewell to them all and headed home, feeling happy that I had come and done and met, with the work and the people.