I've been doing dishes after dinner since my second day here. Everyone staying at Purgatory Shelter signs up for a chore on Monday or Sunday, then they do that chore from Tuesday until the following Monday.
On Thursday night, the guy who signed up for washing the dishes after dinner on Monday wasn't able to do it anymore. I guess with a lot of guys coming and going, those things are bound to happen. I volunteered to help a guy named Nick out with them. He showed me the ropes and we did a bang-up job of it.
So the next day someone asked me to take over full-time on the dishes and I accepted. It's basically like a restaurant; scouring, washing, soaking, rinsing, drying, then putting up dishes for a full dining floor (plus pots, pans, serving trays, etc).
It takes its toll on my hands and my back, but the hardest part is keeping the kitchen secure. Germs can spread easily from the kitchen, so it's important to keep it clear of any unnecessary people who come in.
Folks still stroll in though. Most of them have a good reason. They keep a hot water pot, the garbage bags, and late meals back there. People need access to those things for the sake of keeping the shelter going and it makes sense for someone to jump in, get them, and jump back out again instead of not having them.
Other times, people just want to eat things that they aren't supposed to be eating. I even had the guy in charge of coordinating the kitchen come in just to play some music. If the people who are in charge of enforcing the rules aren't doing it, who will? As the guy doing chores in there, I'm the only one who has a right to be there, but then this isn't an environment where I can simply push back on principle. I mean, I could, but then I'd be climbing the mountain the next day.
I'm learning though and we'll see how well I can secure the perimeter tonight.
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