On Tuesday, we served lunch at St. Anthony's Foundation and Dinner at Glide. Both organizations provide many services in the Tenderloin, including food resources and access to drug recovery. The experiences we took from both places made lasting memories for us all.
At St. Anthony's, we were encouraged to take our lunch break with the diners and engage in conversation with the guests. We were informed that the conversations that we made with the guests might be the only human contact they get all day. As uncomfortable as this may have been, we all did it with willingness and vulnerability.
I sat with Reggie. He seemed to be in his mid thirties, hispanic, and soft spoken. I asked if I could sit across from him, and as he looked up from his hot meal, he kindly replied, "Yes, of course you may." Our conversation started out slow, partially due to my awkward nervousness and lack of experience striking conversation with unfamiliar men in San Francisco. But this was the point.
As soon as I asked Reggie simply how his day was going, he became instantly comfortable with me and I with him. Reggie had just moved from Louisiana to live with his sister. He is a chef at a local African Restaurant and was grabbing a quick lunch on his way to work. After an hour had gone by, Reggie had shared with me about his family, faith, and his experiences with the new city. My lunch with Reggie was the highlight of my day and a true reminder of why I am spending my Spring break here in San Francisco.
Makaya Pratt
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