Friendly Dinner

Devra, Kris, and Tessa

Last night I had dinner with some old and new friends. Diane roasted a nine-pound ham, enough for the six servers and the 14 younger guests who were staying overnight. Kay heated the vegetables and dessert brownies. Devra and Kris brought the salad, rolls, and drinks. I contributed ice cream bars and a hearty appetite.

At Home and Hope, formerly known as the Interfaith Hospitality Network, churches and synagogues on the Peninsula provide housing, food, and other aid to families in need of temporary shelter. We can only assist a fraction of those who need help. Thousands on the Peninsula suffer from job loss, family breakups, and other afflictions, and Home and Hope can only serve a few hundred. But we do what we can.

After dinner the TV in the play area switched to the travails of our ex-Governor and his rich and famous wife. Some of our new friends nodded sagely. They were familiar with human weakness and its consequence. Even those with wealth, fame, and power succumb.

I talked with M., who's applying for a job in San Francisco. Not being familiar with the City and public transportation, he was confused about where and how to transfer from a SamTrans Bus to SF Muni and which bus numbers he should watch out for. He needed to disembark at the temporary bus terminal (the old one's been torn down), then transfer to the SF Muni #38 that starts on Market and makes a right on Geary.

I went back to the car and rummaged around in the glove compartment. Yes! there was an old San Francisco street map that hadn't been used for years in the age of GPS. I gave it to him so he could see what I was talking about. We do what we can.

Before dinner at Hope Lutheran Church, San Mateo