Logs:A Kind Gesture

A Kind Gesture
Dramatis Personae Melinda, Sarah
In Absentia	2019-08-20 "It's my favorite way of saying, 'I'm here to help.'"
Location Montagues
It's mid morning,Tuesday, and Melinda hasn't really done any actual work at the cafe. Sure, she's got some beans in the roasters, but given the store of already roasted coffee, it doesn't seem like a necessity. Instead, she's sorting a couple bundles of clothes on the long employee break table, checking the tee shirts and pants for holes and marks. She spies Sarah when she comes to clock in and waves her over. "Hey, can you give me a hand? It's slow out there and don't worry, you'll still be paid. I just need to go through these bags of clothes and make sure that they are in good condition." Speaking of clothes with holes and marks, Sarah's jeans are nearly worn out at the knee and look like the beginning of a sketchbook around the calves and ankles, various Steven Universe characters outlined in thick black marker. Her work clothes are in a duffel bag, held at her side, safe from any possible stains during her work commute. Still, she brightens at seeing Melinda, nearly bouncing over to the table. "Sure thing!" She gets to work immediately, dropping her bag and grabbing a pair of dark wash jeans to start checking the seams. "How was your morning?" "My morning? OH... It's been okay. Just, got a lot of stuff to get together for a charity drive for my friends. I've got a number of things I've been accumulating here the past few days that I'm just about ready to load up into the van and drop off at Chimera." Mel's hands keep working, making sure to sniff the underside of sleeves and the seats of pants to determine cleanliness. They are all SUPPOSED to be clean, but can a person really count on that? "How was your morning?" "I saw a really cute, really big dog on the way here, so pretty great." Judging the jeans as passable with a quick sniff test of her own, Sarah neatly folds them and sets them aside. She sets her sight on a small mound of shirts next. "If you have a lot of stuff to do, do you want an extra set of hands after my shift is over? I can help you load everything into the van, too." "This is something like the last of it, unless I think of anything between now and then. Besides, I need to get this delivered sooner rather than later. The... Oh hold that thought." Mel drops what she is looking back into her 'not done' pile and heads over to the roaster that's churning away and throws a lever. The heat shuts down immediately and the roasted beans are dumped onto a large tray for cooling. As the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans drifts her way, Sarah feels like she might turn into a cartoon character and float right across the room toward the roaster. Her feet, of course, firmly stay on the ground, but it doesn't stop her from inhaling deeply. "I love this job," she comments, tossing a t-shirt with a constellation of bleach-eaten holes around the hem into the reject pile. "Well, I'm here to help if you need it." Melinda shakes the tray gently until all of the beans are spread out as evenly as possible. "Okay, now that that is done... This stuff is kind of like disaster relief. For people who have lost everything and need to get their feet under them -- you know, like a house fire. Sure there's stuff that can be done on a larger scale, but sometimes, just the basic needs of a clean set of clothes they can call their own is the first step to feeling slightly more normal again." She wanders back over to the table a small smile tugging at her lips at the aroma appreciation Sarah has. "Of course, I'm also donating coffee." Since Mel's first success on 'off broadway,' she's taken that extra income and bought out the previous owner - who, let's be honest, was spending more time in Florida with her friends than in cold, cold New York City. "It's my favorite way of saying, 'I'm here to help' without getting in the faces of strangers who don't need another person knowing their business. There's some other stuff up in my apartment that can come down too." Sarah pauses in her movements when Melinda talks about the need of a clean set of clothes, giving the shirt in her hand a knowing look, a small nod. "It's a really good thing to do," she says softly, thinking of many coats that Angie had, long ago, presented so proudly after he'd stolen them from the school lost and found. "I still remember when my foster mom took us clothes shopping for the first time." Blinking back into the present, Sarah returns to her task with snappy movements. "I don't really have anything to donate, but can I help with food in any way? Or donate my time?" "Oh, well," Melinda consider for a moment. "I suppose if you want to bring something in, I could take that to Chimera too, but really, have you hooked up with Food Not Bombs yet?" She folds up a couple of tank tops and sets them in a new pile. "They are a really good way to cook for people that need it." "My parents fostered when I was growing up. I had so many siblings from that - I wonder sometimes if I shouldn't look into fostering myself. Besides that, there's a homeless shelter I work with that could also use cooks in the kitchen." "Could you write down the shelter information for me before you leave?" Sarah asks. "I can probably find Food Not Bombs online. I've heard of them before, but I don't think I've actually been anywhere I could offer help." "Sure thing!" Mel smiles and finishes up her bag. "I'll go do that now, while you're finishing up."