warrior sanctuary

It is hot Thursday afternoon I am out side walking towards the entrance of a cream-colored three-story building.  I walk in the main doors. I am anticipating the aroma of freshly popped popcorn.  Strangely I am presented with an over whelming stench.  I assume I came upon the aftermath. The popcorn is burnt. Two white ladies dressed in khaki slacks and blue vest are diligently picking up the mess.  The ladies are wearing purple gloves.  They are using spatulas to scoop the blackened popcorn out of the popcorn machine and tossing it into the trash. These ladies both look happy. I am not sure who might have burnt the popcorn or maybe not a person burnt it. Maybe the machine did the damage, as I do not know the proper way the snack is prepared.

I turn my attention to the waiting room and its inhabitants. Today there is a moderate array of people. As always people take a ticket and begin to wait. One of the older gentleman calling numbers makes eye contact with me. I realize the screen that the numbers are displayed on has a piece of paper showing it is not working. The man appears to be in his middle sixties. He is wearing a blue vest. I take not that there are two colored vests the volunteers wear in this building. The people who are directly helping the business wear the blue vests. The red vests are worn by people who indeed help, the business, but are in fact working for Red Cross. The man who is calling the numbers waives in my direction. I approach the man and say “hello”. He says “hello ma’am how are you today”? I respond politely saying, “I am well, it sure is a beautiful day”. This man does not look like a stranger. I cannot remember exactly if I have seen him performing any duties in this facility, but I do remember his face. He asks how often I visit and if I am accompanying a loved one. I let him know that I am here learning and observing. I have been here before with a family member for an appointment or two, but lately I am here carrying out an assignment. I introduce myself, shake his hand and he lets me know his name is Ray. Ray is also clearly written on a tag on his blue vest. I excuse myself and sit down near the front of the waiting room.

I choose my seat so that I am in audible range of the desk where the two ladies that cleaned the popcorn machine are now sitting. The snack machine is cleaned and has now begun another round of making popcorn.  I lean back in my chair and look off to my left, to my right and then behind me. I count about twenty-five people. Twenty-five people all of whom are volunteers, passer bys, and or patients waiting for the appointments they have made for this Thursday.

Standing to my left is a young kid maybe ten years old is wearing very noticeable bright green shoes with the initials T.M.N.T. There also appears to be a turtle wearing some purple eye mask. I start glancing up towards the kids face. The kid is wearing pressed jeans; I am able to tell because the crease he has on his pants, and a purple T-shirt. He is highly energetic making all of these ninja moves and seems to be performing martial arts.

This brings back old memories when I used to watch Ninja Turtles with my brother who is two years older than me. The kids is smiling and laughing. I look to see who he is with and it is a woman. She is beautiful. This must be his mother. They have the same colored eyes. The resemblance is amazing. They are both white and have lighter blonde hair with green eyes. She is laughing with him and they seem to be saying movie quotes from the Turtles Movie. He says Mom remember when…

Before I was able to listen to the rest of the sentence Ray calls out number forty-nine.

I hear some footsteps behind me and I look. An older woman wearing white pants and what look to be comfortable pair of Rebook tennis shoes with a floral blouse gets up and walks towards the door. The door opens and a lady greets the older lady. This lady looks familiar to me. I saw her last week wearing the same medical style coat.

There is not much noise being echoes in this room. And some of the people whom I counted earlier have left because I do not have the same head count. I count only nineteen. Three of which are younger kids. Most everyone here is above the age of twenty-five.

Behind me I hear mostly in my left ear a woman and a man speaking to each other. I hear them say something about the number and if the man calls it to go find him outside. He says he is going to smoke a cigarette and should not be long, but to grab him immediately if his number is called.  The lady says that she does not have a problem doing such and that he should not be smoking. She mentions that he is not feeling well and smoking will only be worse for his health. I hear no response from the man and I do see him walk outside.

I look in the direction of the volunteer counter and see a Hispanic man asking for directions to the EKG clinic. I scan his appearance I notice he is wearing blue Velcro shoes, plain khakis and a Hawaiian shirt.

He leans over to the lady at the calendar and asks for directions again. Maybe the volunteer did not hear him. I see the volunteers’ lips moving, but Ray is calling another number am unable to hear what she says. The man looks to his left and asks his niece to hand him the paper. The younger lady starts off with “Uncle” and I am only able to hear a few words she speaks. The uncle gets a little frustrated as he drops his glasses and the niece appears to be rustling through the papers. She hands him a paper and he gives it to the volunteer lady. She looks over the paper and hands it back. She says this is an old appointment. The man asks if she is able to look up his new appointment. She explains to him that he must either call or go to the EKG clinic and they can further assist him. She gives him directions. At the end Uncle asks niece if she followed and is able to recreate the directions given. Uncle hands niece the old appointment paper and he jokingly says honey you need to organize those papers. She looks at him and gives him a smirk followed by a laugh. They both exit the building.

As I make my way towards the exit I see a custodian cleaning. He is wearing gloves and dressed in a beige outfit. He is pushing a typical yellow cart. In his right hand he is gripping a spray bottle with blue liquid. He is diligently spraying handrails and doors. He sprays then wipes he does this a few times before I pass him and walk outside.