prayer to sodie. sodie for all.

this last week i had to order millions of dollars of catering for my job. i could tell you about the millions of disastrous events that occurred in the process of acquiring the catering including an enormous tidal wave of coffee spilling all over a taxi and the taxi driver telling me "your boss is a cheap man" while he tried to convince me it would cost 100 bones to clean his precious automobile, but all of that is beside the point. the point of this post is to tell you about the magical experience i had with the leftover catering.

there were millions of sandwiches, cookies, etc. left over from the extravaganza, and my boss told me i could take them and go feed homeless people in the park. im pretty sure no sentence could make me happier. what could be better than taking gourmet sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and happiness to people who get none of the above on a regular basis? i thought nothing. and how wrong i was.

because though they enjoyed the sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, and happiness, the best part of the whole grand adventure was passing out free sodies. as well all know, i love sodie. my sister didi tells me it is my self prescribed medication. having a bad day? stop at chevron for a quick fix. mad at the world? time for 32 oz of joy to make it all better. little did i know that the homeless and i would have such a beautiful bonding experience over the appreciation of this cancer causing carbonation filled beverage. they were grateful for the sandwiches. but they were ecstatic for the sodie. as i asked them what their poision of choice was (sprite, coke, or diet coke), their faces lit up. they grabbed the can gleefully. their eyes sparkled a little brighter. giving them food was fun. but giving them sodie? it made me feel like mother theresa.

in one hot spot, there were 5 men perched on a curb, and they had just been fed by a nearby homeless shelter. i almost didnt stop, because i knew they had been taken care of. but something made me turn and have a little chat with them anyway. in the process, i asked them if they'd want a sodie or two. pure joy radiated from their faces. all of a sudden i was being swarmed. homeless people all around, desperate for a sodie. after i passed them all out, they just sat and sipped for a minute or two. finally, one toothless black man named vick turned to me. "honey," he said, "you are a gift from God."

as i reflected on my magical sodie adventure, i realized why the whole experience brought me so much joy. the homeless get food on a pretty regular basis from nearby shelters, outreach programs, etc. but how often do they get sodie, a treat with no redeeming health benefits and chock full of cancer causing agents, a food item that is simply consumed for the pure joy of its deliciousness even at the harzard of its partaker? im willing to guess the homeless shelter has no sodie fountain.

i guess this all sounds pretty silly to the non-sodie drinker out there. but think of your weakness. purple skittles? mike n ikes? nerd ropes? double stuft oreos? sleeping in too late? cracking your knuckles? biting your nails? they may all be bad for us, but sometimes it just feels good to do something that has absolutely no purpose except for the pure pleasure of the moment. reminds us we are human. reminds us we are real. and that, my friends, is something the homeless deserve too.