We had a cool day today. Jack and I had to get up really really early in the morning as we made our way down to The Someone Cares Soup Kitchen.(This is where the picture would go if I could figure out how to insert pictures on my new computer.) It was little overcast and cool but not as bad as it was when we worked the kitchen in December 2011.
It was really quite busy this morning. On top of the 40 or so volunteer school kids there was about 10 court ordered teenagers and then there was two 6 packs of corporate volunteers one group was from JP Morgan. I found that Ironic because J.P. Morgan just lost $3 billion in very risky derivative trades. Now I think it would've been wiser if they had made some safer investments and then take the say $2 billion and given it to the soup kitchen. That way all these people who are struggling could happen darn nice breakfast today.
Jack put in his five hours, and we headed home. On the way he was craving an In and Out Burger. I don't understand the whole In and Out Burger thing. We hit In and Out at about 12:40PM which on a weekend day is probably the worst time to go anywhere near an In and Out Burger. The line came all the way out into the Walmart parking structure. And it took approximately 25 min. to get the famous In and Out Cheeseburger.
Don't get me wrong I ordered one and I enjoyed fries along with the burger. But after waiting that long I was really expecting to see something more than a burger with cheese on it wrapped in paper. Like I said I just don't get the whole In and Out Burger thing.
A few of you like the John Cronin stories is that I occasionally tell. The visit to In and Out reminded me of one of the funnier stories concerning my old man.
He had to go to Loma Linda University to have a carotid artery procedure done. He is in the hospital for I believe, three days and couldn't wait to get out so he was picked up by his wife's mother's boyfriend, a guy also named John. They headed out of the hospital area and got a few blocks away when John noticed a little bit of blood oozing from the bandage on the left side of my father's neck.
John looked over at my father who was also called John, and said, "John it looks like you got a leaker." Well my dad reached up and put his hand upon his neck and felt the blood. His initial reaction was anger and he got all pissed off and started looking for a Kleenex. He then told John to make a U-turn.
As they came around the street and headed back to the hospital my father said, "Turn right here." Now John didn't quite understand because they were in front of an In and Out Burger stand. So John started to pull in the parking lot thinking that maybe my father just wanted him to run in and get some napkins for the blood that was oosing underneath the bandage.
My father told John to pull in parking spot. Once they had pulled in the parking spot, my dad got the car and John got out the car. John said to my father, "Would you like me to go in and get some napkins?" My dad looked at him and said, "Hell no."
John was a little confused as my father started walking towards the restaurant. Finally, John, the driver, asked my dad "What the hell are we doing here if you don't want napkins?" My dad stopped in the middle of the parking lot turned around to John and said, "I've been in the F*$%^# hospital for three days I want a F#*&^#$@ Cheeseburger!" Needless to say my father wasn't overly concerned about the little bit of blood loss is body was having as long as he got one of his In and Out cheeseburgers.
As I was saying it was very crowded at that Someone Cares Soup Kitchen today. So instead of getting in their way as I would have been, I sat in my car and caught up on a little bit of reading while watching the interesting people who visit the soup kitchen.
In watching these people I found it extremely ironic that people were lining up for free breakfast, yet most of them had smart phones, iPods, and other electronic gadgetry. On top of that a large percentage of them were chain-smoking. Now between the electronics and the cigarettes I would imagine that these people are spending a small fortune. Interesting to watch.
