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A Micro-Moment Filled Karma Kitchen!
What a gift to be at Karma Kitchen on the once-every-four-years day when February 28th is the second to last day of the month! From start to finsih, our circle of 14 volunteers quickly transformed into a humming team that collectively served 110 guests!
With an enthused crowd streaming in at 11AM, we hit the ground running as Rezwan jumped right into his first table of nine guests! Mimi instantly embodied her "savior" role-- finding the missing forks and filling in all gaps with a never-fading smile! Jon kept all his tables beaming as he serendipitously ran into multiple acquaintances, as Eva and Brandon zigzagged the restaurant, clearing tables and delivering orders with Olympian agility!
At any given moment, so many micro moments of care were transpiring before us. When a guest's cup of gratitude overflowed into a Rumi poem performance, Eva stepped-up the goodness by inviting our poetic performer to lead us in a "Happy Birthday" song for one young man who came with his parents. Shortly after, without skipping a beat, the birthday boy's mother nudged their elegant cake into my hands and said, "This is for all of you volunteers!" It made me think-- if I had walked into any regular restaurant, it would be highly unlikely that a random guest would instantly share her birthday cake with a bunch of strangers. But on this day, in this way, were were family. They had come at a peak hour, had never heard of Karma Kitchen, and the only seats available were at the corner of the Community Table. Yet something about the spirit in the air, and perhaps the intention to simply grow in generosity, with no strings attached, lit a spark in their eyes, and a down-to-earthness in their hearts that made it so easy to connect, so humbling to remember how we are all in this thing called life together, often in ways that don't meet the eye.
Meanwhile, behind the counter, our interface Vishesh did everything (though he claims to have "done nothing"). And in the kitchen, Zeenia transformed the swirling stream of orders into love-in-action while Navina and Cathy poured endless goodwill into each plate that went out. Karen and Tiffany made art out of an assortment of delectable desserts (including one guest's offering of homemade cupcakes)! On top of it all, Jerry's dedicated attention to detail and Saourubh's can-do attitude invisibly grounded our whole team as their high-quality dishwashing kept us going strong!
Even after our closing circle, everyone's collective energy made for an effortless clean-up that left the restaurant shining. As the last few pots were soaped and put through the sanitizer, one volunteer (who'd been our star dishwasher the whole day!) noted, "I should do this more at home." Me too, I thought.
Whether in the form of dishes, or serving up food, or simply finding small ways to make someone smile-- the spirit of generosity is contagious, and I'm left with a simple pull to do this more at home. :)--Maitre-D on Feb 29, 2016
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