Laughter at the mission

<< WARNING: the following post contains a swear word. I did not say it, I am merely repeating it. I hope it doesn't offend anyone. >>

Let me give you the background to this story. Last night I took 8 college students to a homeless mission. It is located downtown and every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night it serves food to the homeless community. They have a service in their sanctuary from about 5-6 pm and then food is served after that. A couple weeks ago, we had a "Service Night" at our college group, talking about ways in which we can serve in our area. I had imediately thought of this mission because I took high schoolers there all summer and LOVED it. Sadly, in the summer we only made the food, we never got to serve it. Making and preparing the food is just as important, but I wanted the college students to actually have interaction with the homeless, so this was perfect.

So we arrived at 5:30 and got straight to work, preparing everything to be served. There was a group from a nearby college also there to help, so we had tons of people. The college students were totally into it, so I helped for a bit and then decided to go sit and talk with some folks. So I sat down and had the best/most interesting conversation with a man named Mike.

Mike was probably in his late 50's, early 60's. (He's actually in the top picture, sitting down on the left side of me. He has a long beard and is wearing the plaid red and blue shirt and baseball cap) He was very sweet, polite, smiling, and friendly. We chatted while he finished his meal and then THIS is where things got fun. He pointed to his cap and I noticed it said "Vietnam Veteran" on it, so I asked him if he wanted to share about his time in the war. (My dad was in the Navy during Vietnam, so I am always interested in hearing other people's stories) He started right in and began sharing some adventures.

THEN, he tells me that when he finished fighting in the war in 1968, he was visiting some friends in Texas and he and his friend started smoking weed. "Umm, ok..." I thought (about the sudden change of conversation). And then he turned to me and asked, "And Sarah...guess who came over and started smoking with us?" I had no idea. So he smiled and said, "You'll never guess...Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Janet Reno, Barbara Boxer, and Colin Powell!"

I quickly put my hand over my mouth as if I was surpressing a cough, but I was fighting dearly not to laugh out loud. He was smiling so big and was so proud of his story. "Yup! We all got STONED together!!" You guys, I was dying. And THEN, it got even better! Can it get better? you ask. Oh yes, it can.

So as I was getting myself under control, he then brought up the topic of the world today. He shared that our government IS the terrorists, we should not even have a government, and he doesn't trust anyone to be president who once got stoned with him in Texas after the Vietnam War. And then to cap everything off, he said in a matter-of-fact way, "And besides, soon Jesus is going to come down here and bitch-slap the world."

Oh. My. Word. I don't know about you guys, but when I am shocked by something or don't know how to respond, I always end up laughing. Which is super inappropriate and doesn't help the matter at all. But honestly, I didn't know what else to do! So I started to chortle and tried to choke it away, but to no avail. I began giggling like a fiend in the middle of him still talking. I was so embarassed, but I seriously have no self-control when it comes to laughing. I could NOT believe he just said that! I kept giggling and giggling and he was just staring at me. And then HE started giggling, too. Either he realized what I was laughing about and thought it was funny too or he just laughed at my laugh. Whatever reason, we both sat there giggling like crazy for a good two or three minutes. People were fully turning around and giving us looks. And then after about 5 more minutes of talking, he had to leave so we said goodbye.

Side note: (Please don't be offended...it might have been a "you had to be there" moment, but if you had seen the look on his face and the tone he used, the scene would have struck you as quite hilarious)

As he walked away, I remember thinking, "That was the coolest and weirdest conversation I have ever had. I will never forget Mike as long as I live."

Aren't you all glad I shared this story with you? =)