I was about
five minutes later than usual getting to the food bank on Saturday but there
were not very many people in line. I noticed that among the bags marking
clients’ places in line was the red gym bag of the guy who’d jumped the queue
last week. I also noticed that he was nowhere to be seen and so he must have
once again marked his spot and gone away. At about 10:10, Angie opened the door
and announced that they would be letting people in ten minutes and after we got
our numbers we would be getting our food right away. That was a surprise that
we were all pleased with and it put everyone in line in a good mood. But maybe
it empowered people to be more adamant about defending the etiquette of
line-ups. When three sets of five people had already gone in, the big Jamaican
woman was at the front with me behind her when the guy that had marked his spot
with the red gym bag returned, picked up his bag that several people had
already passed and tried to reclaim his place in line which would have been
ahead of us if he hadn’t gone away. We tried to explain to him that he couldn’t
just mark a spot in line and leave while everyone else was waiting in the cold.
He stood there trying to explain that he’d had to go to buy cigarettes and
during his justification he started lighting a cigarette. I said, “C’mon guy,
we’re trapped in line here!” Before I could say anything more the big Jamaican
woman pointed out that I can’t handle the smoke, so he put his cigarette away
and even the Rastafarian guy nearby who had just lit up was nice enough to move
away. I think the smoke bothers her to but it’s easier to defend someone else’s
complaint sometimes than it is to admit that you have the same issue.
When they let us inside they told
red gym bag that he’d have to go to the back of the line. At the desk the big
Jamaican woman was complaining to the receptionist about the guy but she
started exaggerating to an extreme degree, saying, “He wanted to kill us!”
Then, indicating me, she added that the guy hated being told not to smoke
around me. Then the intake volunteer surprised me when she said, “There’s not
going to be any smoking anyway when we move!” “Where are you moving?” I asked.
“PARC” she answered. “Didn’t there used to be a food bank at PARC?” “Not anymore.”
I got number 17 and as I was about to leave I inquired, “When are you moving to
PARC?” “April.” I was walking towards the door when someone reminded me that we
were to get our food right away. I sat down.
The news about the Parkdale food
bank moving to PARC at 1499 Queen Street West was pretty interesting. It was
great news that there would be no smoking but I wondered how that would be
achieved. In front of the main door at PARC there is always a group of people
puffing away. I did a little research later and found that what used to be at
PARC was the Sorauren Food Bank and it is still listed online as having that
address. But I seem to recall the Sorauren Food Bank as having a different
location now. I also learned that when it was at PARC it was in the basement.
Maybe the space is big enough that there will be no need for outdoor line-ups
and that is why there will be no smoking.
The doorman this time, a middle aged
guy with long blondish hair, glasses and a few missing teeth approached me to
ask me to move to the right because a seat had freed up. I asked why. He
insisted that I move because he wanted to let people in. I said there was
nothing to stop him from admitting people since there were seats to the right
and left of me. He raised his voice and insisted louder. I told him what he was
asking didn’t make any sense. He stormed away, declaring that I was being rude.
I assured him that I was not being rude. He said, “We were nice enough to let
you in early!” One of the receptionists told him to calm down.
A young guy who I hadn’t seen before
called my number.
It’s usually the top of the first
set of shelves that have the most diverse variety of bottled and packaged
products, which are often single items that one doesn’t see in regular
supermarkets. I took the one bottle of Robert Rothschild Farm Citrus Chardonnay
organic gourmet sauce. He said I could take something else from the same shelf,
so I grabbed a can of beef gravy. I like to make my own gravy because it’s so
much better but sometimes when one gets home late a can is convenient.
The next shelf down was divided
between Goldfish crackers and President’s Choice shortbread cookies. I love
shortbread cookies so that was my selection, though I’ll bet they are left over
from Christmas.
From the bottom he gave me six salty
chocolate pretzel bars.
I skipped the next set of shelves
because it was all pasta, rice and sauce, of which I have plenty.
From the next set I didn’t want any
canned beans or vegetables either, and since they had no canned fruit, I
bypassed that too.
The top of the next set had the
soup, where I chose a small lentil curry couscous soup mix. Since I hadn’t
taken anything from the last two sets of shelves he invited me to take more so
I decided on a can of organic lentil vegetable soup. Below that I asked for
tuna and he gave me three cans.
They still had Aveeno hair products
after three weeks of giving them away. He put another shampoo and a conditioner
into my bag.
From the last shelf I opted for a
bag of Cheerios Plus but he also threw in several single servings of Fibre-1
cereal.
From Angie’s cold section I got a
half liter of 2% milk; a container of “cultured” coconut milk, I guess meant to
simulate yogourt; a small tub of dill pickle dip; a package of two chicken and
cheese burritos; and two bags of frozen egg patties.
The regular bread lady was playing
the part of the vegetable lady this time. I snagged a bag of bagels on my way
over to her. She had potatoes, onions, carrots and a head of lettuce. I looked
over at the rainbow chard and she said, “Oh, you want some of that? I don’t
even know what that is!” Each bunch was clearly labeled “rainbow chard”. She
let me have two bunches. She wanted to know what to do with it. I told her the
stalks are basically a life support system for the leaves, which you can boil
and eat with butter.
I
was done with the food bank before 11:00. That’s the earliest ever.
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