Grace Community Christian Church

 

Archived Things Above

Garbage Picking in Georgetown (12/7/04)

Like a skit you don't clap at the end of, I want to tell you a disturbing story.

There we were, splurging a bit at an upscale Georgetown eatery. Like many restaurants in the area, this one featured a menu board posted in the front window so patrons-to-be can go through the sticker-shock outside, instead of fainting at their table & creating a ruckus.

You see, the kiddies had all been shipped up north for a few weeks of R&R in Canada, & we were enjoying some of the same in the heart of our favorite city, Washington, DC. Our table had a perfect sidewalk view, located in a small alcove just inside the front door. Being people watchers, we didn't mind being people watched in return. In fact, it was kind of fun guessing what the legs coming down the street contained above the waist- my view of that direction being obstructed by the aforementioned menu board.

Unobstructed, however, was the view of the woman across the street who caught our attention by pitching a plastic cup right into the street. As I began my complaint about the shameless inconsiderateness of lawless litterers, I was stopped mid-sentence at what I was witnessing.

This woman wasn't just spewing trash, she was foraging. Literally. Digging into the curbside waste can, finding discarded but unemptied cups, & downing the contents. I watched her do this three or four times from the one can, then she shuffled up the street in search of her next course.

I was speechless. And guilt wracked. For there on my wife's plate was a beautiful presentation of herb salmon, round white potatoes, & asparagus tips. I too had a combination of the single largest piece of salmon I've ever had, & shrimp, with vegetables. All cooked to perfection. In fact, everything about the place was perfect, even down to the way the server had unfolded & placed my napkin on my lap. (Being more the Wendy's type, I almost swung at him. But Kim, with her bit more "high class" experience, waved me off with an "it's ok" sign.)

The irony of the whole scenario was a weight I am still shouldering. Pampered patron consumes inviting victuals while the beautiful people stroll obliviously along, heedless of this indigent garbage picking pop procurer.

Ezekiel put it this way: "Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She & her daughters were arrogant, overfed & unconcerned; they did not help the poor & needy." (Ez. 16:49). The apostle John put it this way: "Let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions & in truth."

There wasn't much truth that John would be proud of that day. Truth is, Sodom's spirit lives on- in me, & in my inexcusable indifference to a fellow human being who generated for me more curiosity than caring.

I'd love to be able to write a different, more spiritual, ending here, but that would be quite inaccurate. In fact, I did finish my meal, & even helped Kim with hers. Furthermore, her plate did not return empty to the kitchen. Which means that perhaps later that day, the same woman was pleased to come upon herb salmon, plucked from yet another beneficent trash bin. The one behind the Manhattan Bar & Grill.


Jim Dewar --