Here’s the continuation of part 1 from yesterday and this part is a whole lot more serious. I finally got off my lazy arse and despite massive amounts of sleep deprivation courtesy Chinky Pinky and Cricket Captain I woke up early doors on a Sunday and drove down to the Pasadena temple. Admittedly I may have had some ulterior motives in volunteering (apparently it’s a good way to…cough…cough…make friends) which in the end didn’t really pan out, but it was a pretty ‘interesting’ experience. Putting together bags of food was a frenetic activity and O’s energy for a skinny chap was amazing as was his crazy driving skills. Here was a man who had undoubtedly learnt his road skills in Sri Lanka.

We ended up distributing the food bags in Skid Row which was an experience in itself. The poverty was a real slap in the face, people who have just made the wrong decisions or never had any opportunities in life, mired in drugs and alcohol. The spectrum in characters was suprising, there were the hustlers who talked their way into getting around 5 bags of food each, the truly grateful people, others who would just grab their food and walk off, a vegetarian bum of all things and another one who tried to teach me CAD. Surprises never cease I guess and I guess I’ll be back next month to help out. One Sunday out of the month isn’t too much to sacrifice and who knows, maybe on some small level I made a difference.

P.S. If anybody is in the LA area and wants to help click here.