Ex convicts for breakfast, haircut for dinner

At the caroling I met a lady who works for Operation ID, a free service for ex cons, formal drug addicts and homeless people to help them get their papers and ID cards back. It sounded interesting so I went. On our way into the building the line was already long, some of them were waiting since 5 in the morning. We were not sure if we should just walk by them without even looking or noticing them, or we should be polite and at least say ’good morning’. They solved it for us, almost all of them welcomed us with some polite greetings.

Once inside I got introduced to the security guard. My friend told him that I was from Europe. He got super excited and asked me: Do you speak EUROPEAN? :) And he was dead serious! As a matter of fact, I speak several languages, but European is not one of them. It’s a shame, really... Anybody out there willing to teach me some European? I’d be forever grateful! :)

The doors opened at 9 and soon I found myself with the first person; a middle aged African-American man who was in need of an official ID. He had no birth certificate or anything to prove who he was except his prison ID with his name and mugshot. We filled out the necessary papers and while my friend asked some questions I had an excellent opportunity to observe these people. Most of them were African-American and the first thing that stood out for me was that they were all VERY polite. It made me think. Is it because Americans are generally polite? Or people in the southern US are even more so? Maybe because he is black and the humble attitude is rooted in the fact that once they were slaves to while people? Perhaps it’s the fact that they are in need and it forces them to be polite towards those who are in position to help them. Or maybe, just maybe it has something to do with them being human beings just like us, except that they have been treated poorly by society and they appreciated our efforts... Who knows.

(before the cut)

Later that day we were supposed to take part in a Christmas dinner at the Nehemiah Center where Sandy volunteers a lot. This is a place for mainly Mexican and African-American families who have different needs. You find here lessons for adults on business, managing your household, teaching basic English language, day care center for kids from 2 to 18 and many more. It’s a great place, a wonderful ministry and as such, always in need for more donations. Have a look at their website and if you can, please contribute and make Christmas special for these people. Thanks!

We went there early so I joined the 3 year olds. The good thing is that you don’t need to be any special, they gather around you in no time for storytelling and playing. I was reading a book with a small Mexican boy when 2 black girls with lovely hairdo came and started to braid my hair. They were fascinated by my red hair – something they have never seen before. Soon other kids joined them too and I found myself sitting in the middle of the room with 4-5 kids pulling my hair in every direction. Kids are creative; they used wooden clothes’ pins to keep my locks in place.

Suddenly one of the little girls walked around me and with bright shiny eyes she showed me her hands. One had a pair of scissors in it the other had some good 15 cm long red hair in it and it looked very much like my hair. By the time I started panicking she managed to cut quite a bit. I tried to be angry with her, I really did, but I just couldn’t. She was so proud of her work and so happy that she could play with an adult- size doll with red hair... OH well... Could have been worse. This was a great gift to a young girl and as for me, the older young girl... I suppose my hair will grow back soon...