Bye Gina
Nowadays as soon as I enter the Opp Center and walk into the kitchen, I get some sort of news or another from Ellen. It's almost like she's waiting for me to get there just so she can tell me whatever it is that there is to say. One time it was the Jesse was no longer working there. This time it was much bigger: Gina has left the Opportunity Center and has started a new job.
This was a huge shocker. Gina was unquestionably the heart and soul of this place. It will never be the same without her here, in my opinion. As I've said before, to me she is the ideal person to work with homeless: tough but sweet, respected but friendly. Apparantly she took a job elsewhere for more pay. I can understand that, and I felt that people around the Opp Center did too. "Gina wasn't gonna be around forever" I heard one client say. George said he would have done the same thing if he was in the same position. Overall I felt that there was no resentment about it, just understanding.
Peter, the head of the center was around and I wanted to ask him about it. He didn't say much, but I did get Gina's number from him so that I could call her and say goodbye and wish her luck. Peter expected to find a replacement in a week. But honestly, there's no replacing Gina.
Other than that things were relatively calm. Not a lot of food available today, mostly just pastries and ramen. The supplies were awfully low... no sugar for coffee, not hot food to give out, etc. I helped George for a little while and talked more with Ellen. She told me about her 25 years teaching kindergarten and how she finally left over "philosophical differences" with the principal. Although it's cool to hear about her life and I think she's a good person, there's definitely something off-putting about someone continuously talking about all the good they've done. They are clearly reaching out for praise, and though I usually oblige, I definitely am resolved not to be one of these people. To me, the ideal is to serve, to do good, because that is one's nature. I want service to be in my core, to simply walk the walk and let everything else take care of itself. Like a rose which gives lovely fragrance... it gives something wonderful, just by its nature, effortlessly, unconditionally.
This was a huge shocker. Gina was unquestionably the heart and soul of this place. It will never be the same without her here, in my opinion. As I've said before, to me she is the ideal person to work with homeless: tough but sweet, respected but friendly. Apparantly she took a job elsewhere for more pay. I can understand that, and I felt that people around the Opp Center did too. "Gina wasn't gonna be around forever" I heard one client say. George said he would have done the same thing if he was in the same position. Overall I felt that there was no resentment about it, just understanding.
Peter, the head of the center was around and I wanted to ask him about it. He didn't say much, but I did get Gina's number from him so that I could call her and say goodbye and wish her luck. Peter expected to find a replacement in a week. But honestly, there's no replacing Gina.
Other than that things were relatively calm. Not a lot of food available today, mostly just pastries and ramen. The supplies were awfully low... no sugar for coffee, not hot food to give out, etc. I helped George for a little while and talked more with Ellen. She told me about her 25 years teaching kindergarten and how she finally left over "philosophical differences" with the principal. Although it's cool to hear about her life and I think she's a good person, there's definitely something off-putting about someone continuously talking about all the good they've done. They are clearly reaching out for praise, and though I usually oblige, I definitely am resolved not to be one of these people. To me, the ideal is to serve, to do good, because that is one's nature. I want service to be in my core, to simply walk the walk and let everything else take care of itself. Like a rose which gives lovely fragrance... it gives something wonderful, just by its nature, effortlessly, unconditionally.
posted by Neil Patel at 7:47 PM
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