An Oakland Catholic Worker Thanksgiving

       Yesterday was Thanksgiving at the Oakland Catholic Worker. Today was also Thanksgiving. I am pretty Thanksgiving-ed out, to say the least.

       We were closed yesterday, which means that we didn't prepare or pass out any hot meals. This was because there were like a jillion churches and organizations who were making Thanksgiving dinner, so our absence would not be noted. Instead, a past resident, Carlos, spent the day making a turkey. He filled it with onions, green peppers, apples, oranges, pears, and (inexplicably) hotdogs. It smelled delicious.   

I made pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and brown sugar, Jell-o, zwiebach, and cranberry sauce from a can. The pie was square, because all the pie dishes were too shallow – I like my pumpkin pie filling! It's really hard to roll out square pie dough, by the way. Oscar Romero helped me, though, so it turned out ok.

        The Jell-o was old and also full of fruit, so it actually didn't set until this morning. The zwiebach was delicious and worked out perfectly. It probably helped that I was Skyping with my family (well, actually mostly just Grace and Dad, since Natalie and Mom got bored and left halfway through) while making the zwiebach, so they could walk me through it. Ben helped too. He came around about noon and let me teach him how to make zwiebach. Yay, our first Thanksgiving!

 Nom nom nom...

        We were expecting a couple of extra guests, so in addition to the four of us that were already in the house, I made food for about eight people, just in case. The guests never showed, so it was just the four of us. We had a lot of food left over. It was also the quietest Thanksgiving ever, with the least amount of fanfare. Usually everyone is all talking at once, at least at the celebrations I've been to. This one was almost completely silent. And there was no “Johnny Appleseed” or “Praise God from Whom” to start us off! It actually felt incredibly weird. So after the meal, which was over almost before it started, we cleaned up, and then Ben and I hung out downstairs and listened to the screaming demon children playing next door.   

        Today was my day to serve food to people on the street. It was also the day that a bunch of people from our Board of Directors were supposed to come to eat a Thanksgiving meal with us. So I made a hot meal and served about 30 plates to people on the street, all the while wondering when exactly I needed to put the turkey in. Carlos, the guy who made it yesterday, was supposed to come at 11, but by 1, when he hadn't showed, DP and I made the executive decision to shove it in the oven.

        Around 1230, this lady stopped by and wanted a plate of food. So I gave her one. And she wanted seconds, so I gave her another. Later on, someone rang the bell and then just left, so I gave her that plate as well. Then she asked for another. She had already had 3 plates though, which is kind of our unofficial limit. So I told her that we always have food available and that she could come back tomorrow if she wanted some more. ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE. Suddenly, I was a selfish evil bitch who lived comfortably in a house, denying “nasty-ass,” uncooked food with hairs in it to poor people who lived on the streets, and if they had it any other way, they wouldn't come eat my “nasty-ass” food, they'd go to McDonald's, and if I was any kind of person at all, I'd give her more plates. Sometimes people just need a sounding board to get all their frustrations out on.

           So after I finished serving food and cleaning up and fielding some concerns about some fundraising events this weekend, I started in on supper, making some more sweet potatoes and cutting up bread and setting out plates for 15 people. We weren't really sure how many people were going to come, but there are 6 people on the Board, and sometimes they bring their wives or families. At 6, one guy, Chepe Zavala, showed up. At 630, he was still the only one there. So we had a meal with just him and the people in the house. I made enough food for 15 people, and only one showed up. I guess I wish they had at least RSVPed or something. That sort of thing tends to make one feel a bit under-appreciated.

           So that was Thanksgiving at the Catholic Worker. We have lots of leftovers, to say the least.