Yule Do

[steepholm]

I didn't get to do my Little Women thing at the shelter on Christmas morning after all. It turned out that far too many cooks had turned up for the available broth, and so I was shunted on to general duties. In my case that meant three hours opening and shutting the door that divided the kitchen, storerooms, offices, etc. from the big day room where the guests were, and making sure none of the latter wandered 'back stage'. Ironically, I spent Christmas morning literally shutting the door in the faces of the homeless.

Not that they seemed to mind, and a full English was had by all. I quite enjoyed it, actually, despite having to stand in close proximity to a misplaced apostrophe ("Guest's" for "Guests'") far longer than is safe for a pedant. After a while, I began to cast myself in various gatekeeperly roles: I spent some time as Janus, the Dunsinane Porter, St Peter and assorted psychopomps. "I am the still point of this turning world," I told myself. "Stability and salaries lie behind me, before me the abyss."

But after a while the two looked much the same.

Comments

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I never imagined you being the doorkeeper type, who'd judge a person by way of appearance. I bet it was by accident and not Karma;) At least, you undoubtedly did it in a good spirit, not for the $ and everyone seems to have been fed properly enough for once, even if not in the kitchen area, that arouses the curiosity of children all sizes.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Happily the only relevant aspect of appearance was the presence or absence of a volunteer badge: no badge, no entry. Though some of the guests certainly conformed to the rough sleeper stereotype (think of the cover of Jethro Tull's Aqualung), many did not; and conversely some of the volunteers were a bit scruffy (viz. yours truly), so without that I'd have been at a loss.

In kitchen training a lot of emphasis was placed on keeping the kitchen (and its staff) separate from the guests, so as not to spread infections and other nasties, especially as many homeless people have pretty poor immune systems.

[karinmollberg.livejournal.com]

People in general ought to come with not only a badge with information on whether they are around voluntarily or not but with more explicit information on possible side-effects and chemically exact contents (in Lay Speak); as Max Goldt, the German satirist has long pointed out "die Beschriftung der Menschheit schreitet voran" (The Labelling of Humanity is in Progress) but this does not seem to help much. Also, I'm afraid he referred to clothes and appearance as on all these weird "Unküt (ein sogenanntes "Unwort" falls ich je eines sah) shirts people buy in lethal black cotton made by kid hands; paying lots of money to carry marketing slogans, something that does not cease to fascinate me.

Sounds, as if the feeding of the needing was done in the best way possible (with an allowance for bad orthography). And nice to know you did not waste your time even if you were not allowed your fav. activity.

Here, where I live, badges of that kind would be practical in everyday life. Personally, I'd vouch for "unvoluntarily around" in some places, though I appreciate still having a roof over my head, warmth and food. Oh and electricity and an internet connection that works as well as LJ.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

You could have pictured yourself as whoever it is who shuts the door of the House of Commons in the face of Black Rod (who, if not homeless, is perhaps gormless).

After I first read about that little ceremony, Conan Doyle's Musgrave Ritual no longer seemed so bizarre.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Indeed, I missed a trick there! I like that ceremony - though of course I wish they'd keep the doors of the Commons shut against the undemocratic stoats ermines and weasels without.

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I spent some time as Janus, the Dunsinane Porter, St Peter and assorted psychopomps.

Oh, lovely! Not the the Master Doorkeeper of Roke?

Nine

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's who the back of my mind was trying to think of!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Ooh, yes - I should have thought of him. I did however briefly consider the keeper of the bridge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

[sue-bursztynski.livejournal.com]

And throw the guests off the bridge if they got the capital of Abyssinia wrong or flubbed their favourite colour? 😊