Addisyn Madeen
Today, on May 10, 2022, I went to help with feeding the homeless. It began a few stations away from school, a little less than four hours after school had ended and so a couple of friends and I went to celebrate a birthday. We decided on going to a small place that only serves various types of toast, eggs, and bacon, chocolate with chopped almonds, and a variety of flavors unique yet comforting. However, the place while serving undoubtedly good food was on the most expensive end, for a friend’s birthday how could we resist?
After we are finished with our food we walked aimlessly through the city and then we started to walk with an aim, Kannai station. It is 6:20 p.m. and we have 40 minutes for a walk that will take half of that. The time flies and we are soon giving the birthday boy a hug as my remaining friend and I go in search of the “Certe” building to be there ten minutes before seven. After finding the building that does have the word “CERTE” as a large, protruding, bright sign, a group of familiar faces comes out from the station. Teachers from school, moms who have been seen before at school functions, even a younger student hiding behind someone whom we could only presume was her mom, everyone there has already handed out some food to those who live at the station. They greet us with smiles, sad but knowing, the knowledge they hold is what we’ll only receive as we’re handed plastic gloves and two large bags; one is filled with small bananas and the other is filled with individually wrapped pieces of bread. My friend and I look at each other guiltily, thinking about the thick slices of toast we had covered in cheese and other such condiments, and how greedily we ate the food without a second thought.
Our teacher explains how we will see people who are well-dressed, people who do have jobs but those jobs don’t even offer enough to pay for a full meal, her tone is sympathetic yet, unassailable, she’s been here more than a few times. We get told to stand to the side and offer every person one banana, and one bag of bread and the man behind us offers them a mask, even those who cannot afford human necessities are caring enough to try and help with the minimizing of the spread of the virus.
Many pass by, all accept everything we offer, and most say thank you, nearly all nod, and all do make some sound of acknowledgment. One man who stood out from the rest of the line was someone who walked past every outstretched hand, as I looked up I could see he wasn’t seeing. We raised our voices and he thanked us but I wanted to give him more, even though I knew there would be less for the next person then. To lose your sight felt like losing everything to me.
Every time I pass something off, I am forced to re-evaluate how much I have and how much I haven’t appreciated enough. I look at my friend and I can see her thoughts mirror mine. As we walk to our next post, those who live at the stadium, those who are even worse off… we didn’t realize that such a thing was truly possible, we make jokes that have an underlying truth; jokes about appreciating our parents that soon turn into serious comments about how we wished we had more to give or we had less so we could appreciate what we do have more.
At the stadium this sentiment only rang more true, there was a small line already formed but the people were much friendlier, much more vocal about what they needed, the first woman we met even refused a pair of socks and chose the pink water bottle instead of the silver one my friend offered her. As we kept walking we had more of such encounters, a man had to ask for advice on which water bottle could hold the most liquid yet will stay light, and there was even a man who asked if there were a different pair of pants he could receive as the pair that was offered was too feminine.
At the moment, my friend and I just laughed. We thought it was adorable and we understood the want to have a preference, on the other hand, we did find it peculiar that they wouldn’t accept everything immediately. Several others just outright refused items such as hats and sweaters and we couldn’t see why and then we did. Through our eyes, they had nothing, anything seems better than not having nothing, and even if at this moment they didn’t need it, they might, later on, this was how we’ve been raised as we didn’t understand and I cannot confidently say we entirely do now. Whilst handing out the food and items it was impossible not to notice how everyone was kind-hearted and needless to say, clean. Everything in their own sanctions was organized and personalized to their own preferences. The refusal of items they don’t need at the current moment? Someone else will. Even during their time of need, they thought about others more than many have thought about them. How we viewed them as people who needed saving, they were just those who needed a helping hand from yes, those who thought they were better than thou. It was made painfully apparent that all that we had meant nothing if we couldn’t understand how much they would truly mean to someone else.
This morning, I would have grumbled about my hand-me-down shirt that has been worn by three different teenage boys at various times, my homemade skirt with fraying edges, and the backpack I got from Walmart in third grade. While writing this article, I can only think about the expensive pair of glasses I have to get replaced every few months, the personalized basketball hoodie that was nearly five thousand yen that is keeping me warm, and the assurance that no matter what happens I will always have a place to live and a hot meal waiting for me.
It is so easy to forget all the good that we have when it’s easy to only think about who has more, instead, I would like to start thinking about how much I have and how much more I can give.
Addisyn Madeen