Community Service

I found myself doing mandatory community service in a kitchen
for those without shelter or food. I didn't want to have to explain why I was here
to the other workers, mostly out of embarrassment and the need to just complete my hours and leave.

I was relieved once I realized that they didn't care why I was there. They had enough to worry about-themselves. That was good to know because I expected to answer why I was there every time I came in contact with a new service worker. And, believe me, there were many that came and went. I saw new faces every
time I walked into that kitchen.

I didn't get that dreaded question one hundred times. In fact, I never got it once. What I did get were questions of a different sort. I was asked by many, “How many hours of service do you have to do?” And, “When do they have to be done?” Those two questions literally changed my view of mandatory
community service and the view I had created of my new co-workers. I
immediately saw something in common with each of those people who came and went and found themselves in the same position as myself.

Those people were all dreamers.

See, the question I expected to get (What did you do to get mandatory community service?) was a question about my past.
Those other service workers wanted nothing to do with the past.

They knew the past was filled with pain and bad decisions.

The questions they did ask were of the present (How many hours of service do you have to do?) and future (When do they have to be done?) They were constantly looking ahead. They were
looking to accomplish something, whether it be as simple as getting their probation officer off of their back and go on with the life they know, or whether it be to make a better life for themselves. That wasn't for me to judge. I looked at them all the same.

I looked at them as dreamers not concerned with the past.

They were different than most people because they found comfort in the questions, not the answers.