Porridge

I remember a joke I first heard in elementary school.    Some monks lived together in a monastery in complete silence, aside from once each year, one monk could say one sentence.   This annual event was eagerly awaited.   The first year, monk 1 says "I love the porridge".  Second year, the next monk stands up and says "I hate the porridge."   Monk 3, a year later, says "I can't stand the constant bickering about the porridge".   It was a bit like that this morning at the shelter.

"Bobby" has stayed with us 3 nights this year.   I'm not counting the night he arrived very late for dinner.  Very late: ten to eight ... in the morning.   He looked incredibly disshevelled, barely moving.  But he devoured a plate we heated up for him and managed to leave with someone else's lunch all before 8 am.  Last night, he arrived early, clean shaven, talkative and I didn't recognize him at first.   This morning he was clearly in a foul mood and came up to the pass through and asked why we put salt in the porridge. "It was horrible.  Who puts salt in porridge?"  He seemed very upset.

When I told him it was time to leave, he still looked sullen.  I asked if he'd had plans for the day, if he'd like me to put his coffee in a paper cup so he could take it with him.  No response.  He just got up and left.    Ten minutes later, I saw he was back at the kitchen door -- the one that goes to the dining hall that is normally closed but was propped open as we were cleaning up, so I hustled over to see what was going on.  He leaned in and said "Sorry for my behaviour, it was childish of me".  And off he went.

I related this story to my wife Jan afterwards and she reminded me  that our Scottish brother-in-law Jim loved porridge and he always wanted it with salt -- never sugar.  Apparently this is common in Scotland.  Jim never understood why we put sugar on porridge.

Anyway, if the biggest issue of the day is whether someone likes or hates the porridge it's going to be a very good day.

Thanks to Wendy, Luc and Beth for serving up a great breakfast (we also offered scrambled eggs and toast) and making fabulous barbecued chicken sandwiches for lunch.