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Muffingate Pantry
May. 15th, 2015 12:18 amFirst I have to introduce you to Irene. Chronologically she's somewhere around 80, but she is determinedly Not Old. She is insanely active, nearly always cheerful, and 100% committed to everything she does, and she has a crazy sense of humor.
On Thursdays Irene comes to the church and sets up the handbell tables, 8 of them, by herself. (Yes, I said she's 80.) Then she drives across town to volunteer at an after-school program for disadvantaged children, and then back to church for handbell practice. She has at most 15 minute to eat in between those last activities so she packs a small meal... except that last Thursday she forgot. And when she was setting up the tables, she noticed that refreshments for the AA meeting that day were being provided by the men of the group. So when she saw a package of small muffins on the counter, unlabelled, she assumed those men had kindly left some leftovers for us folks at the church, and she ate two. (I bumped into her after she ate the first, and was a bit concerned, but since the deed was done I didn't tell her that I wasn't so sure about her reasoning.)
Time came for the handbell practice... and the handbell director came out of the kitchen shouting "who ate my muffins???" Irene was mortified, and kept quiet, and suffered all through rehearsal. So in the morning, she confessed via email, and copied me since I knew about it. As I said, she does everything 100%, so it was an incredible, moving and funny and abject apology, and of course the director accepted-- with an almost equally moving and funny and abject response. He also mentioned that he had assumed I was the culprit, so I'm glad Irene confessed.
But the happy postscript is that, next time I saw Irene, I pointed out that she and I and Pastor Karen all too often end up at the church with no food and no time, and then we do terrible things-- buy horrible junk food at the convenience stores on the corner, or go hungry and be irritable at our meetings and rehearsals and then binge.. or eat someone else's muffins. So we brought Karen into the conversation, and agreed on a short list of healthy shelf-stable snacks to keep handy, plus apples which at least keep for weeks on end. And enthusiastic Irene went out and bought them all, and now we-- and anyone else-- can eat something healthy and quick and tasty in those short minutes between things.
The beauty of it is that I don't think it would have worked if there weren't three of us. I'm selfish enough that I have wanted something like our pantry for months, but I think Irene and Karen are going along with it mostly for each other's sake and mine.
On Thursdays Irene comes to the church and sets up the handbell tables, 8 of them, by herself. (Yes, I said she's 80.) Then she drives across town to volunteer at an after-school program for disadvantaged children, and then back to church for handbell practice. She has at most 15 minute to eat in between those last activities so she packs a small meal... except that last Thursday she forgot. And when she was setting up the tables, she noticed that refreshments for the AA meeting that day were being provided by the men of the group. So when she saw a package of small muffins on the counter, unlabelled, she assumed those men had kindly left some leftovers for us folks at the church, and she ate two. (I bumped into her after she ate the first, and was a bit concerned, but since the deed was done I didn't tell her that I wasn't so sure about her reasoning.)
Time came for the handbell practice... and the handbell director came out of the kitchen shouting "who ate my muffins???" Irene was mortified, and kept quiet, and suffered all through rehearsal. So in the morning, she confessed via email, and copied me since I knew about it. As I said, she does everything 100%, so it was an incredible, moving and funny and abject apology, and of course the director accepted-- with an almost equally moving and funny and abject response. He also mentioned that he had assumed I was the culprit, so I'm glad Irene confessed.
But the happy postscript is that, next time I saw Irene, I pointed out that she and I and Pastor Karen all too often end up at the church with no food and no time, and then we do terrible things-- buy horrible junk food at the convenience stores on the corner, or go hungry and be irritable at our meetings and rehearsals and then binge.. or eat someone else's muffins. So we brought Karen into the conversation, and agreed on a short list of healthy shelf-stable snacks to keep handy, plus apples which at least keep for weeks on end. And enthusiastic Irene went out and bought them all, and now we-- and anyone else-- can eat something healthy and quick and tasty in those short minutes between things.
The beauty of it is that I don't think it would have worked if there weren't three of us. I'm selfish enough that I have wanted something like our pantry for months, but I think Irene and Karen are going along with it mostly for each other's sake and mine.
