A convex mirror was donated to the thrift store, so I took a selfie...
...modeled after the Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror by Francesco Mazzola, called Parmigianino, 1523-24 (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna):
A couple other things at the thrift store yesterday...
Vintage salt and pepper shakers that meow--or moo--when turned upside down, like a kid's farm-in-a-can moo/baa box:
BELOW: Remember flash bulbs? So exciting, their controlled explosions... Like a sneeze.
BELOW: Boy on the floor playing with toy vacuum cleaner
The Baby Sems are volunteering at the store all week. Seventeen young men (23–30 y.o.) in their first year at the St. Paul Seminary, studying to become priests, come two at a time for two-hour shifts.
I didn't walk them around the 'hood yesterday, I walked them around the store. Salient features: bullet hole in window (windows which had been replaced in the uprisings after George Floyd's murder); drug dealers across the street; Mexican food truck next to them; Narcan kit for opioid overdoses in our first-aid kit; bathrooms & dressing rooms closed, to prevent people overdosing in them (and shoplifting); the red bench Grateful-J made so we could put boxes of free food up, instead of making people pick up food off the ground; the store's organization--decorative endcaps, books in order by topic, clothes separated by size--for good service but, just as much, to make it a pleasant place for people to come.
"It's all very well to talk about love and service", I said, "but you have to make these little decisions every single day about how to do that. And it's wearing, and annoying, and the despair can really drag you down--and you have to think, how do I keep doing this? What sustains me in the long run?"
Talking with them, I see myself and the store as if in a mirror. I'm proud of us--we look good. We do good. And under crazy circumstances. I knew that, but it's a nice thing to see through the eyes of these fresh and shiny humans. Their teeth! Their hair cuts! They are so well cared for. People think they matter simply for existing!
It's draining to talk for four hours (I get one of the volunteers on each shift), but it's terrific to have help! Aside from Vikki who does puzzles for a couple hours on Wednesdays, I never have help. And these young men can pick up boxes like nothing.
Yesterday one of my helpers was a little older--26--and had worked as a civic engineer. (They all have undergrad degrees; some have work experience.) I asked him to help rearrange my book-recycling corner, which was a total mess.
He set it to rights.
"You really are an engineer!" I said. He and I talked a lot about fantasy novels--his other interest. Lord of the Rings (the Catholic elements), Star Wars, Harry Potter--these guys are a generation that grew up with HP. I recommended Murderbot...
It was nice to talk to someone who reads.
So far only one of the sems--(my favorite, of course)--has asked me any substantive questions (or, any questions at all). But that's normal for humans. (Maybe especially for young male humans.)
That one stand-out had studied history, and he was eager to hear what we'd experienced at the store and what I thought about George Floyd's murder.
