Dear Feastlings,
When I was much younger, like most young folk, I was virtually awash in FOMO. It didn’t have a cool acronym like it does now- Fear of Missing Out was just feeling like everyone else was doing something fabulous while I was wheeling a thirty-gallon garbage can out and hoisting it into the dumpster behind Lorenzo’s Pizzeria. Now, forty years later, I have the opposite problem, a fear that I’ll be invited to something I have to show up to, as I get my fill of being social here at Feast on a nightly basis. It’s fine with me- I genuinely enjoy the vast majority of our guests, though you might not know it from my emails. But I’m an introvert in extrovert’s clothing, so I’m happy to MO.
What’s developed this week however, is a serious case of FOLO- Fear of Leaving Out. We had a really touching donation recently, one where fifteen or twenty checks were handed to us by the people who live in Hill Farm neighborhood, with the specific intention of feeding hospital workers. While we sent health care workers thousands of meals earlier on in the pandemic, as numbers dropped, we changed our emphasis to people experiencing homelessness and poverty, but our Hill Farm friends noted the palpable strain on health care workers recently, as Covid numbers climbed again right alongside major staffing shortages, putting two or three times as much work on the backs of half as many people. It’s rough for them, whether or not you see it on the news. So it was great to drop off a hundred meals, but as I talked to Brian in the ED and Jon at the Crisis Response Center, I discovered that we were feeding less than half of the people who work there.
So I’ve taken it upon myself to scare up enough help to go back in a week and a half and feed the rest of them. One of the things that bothered me early on during the pandemic was that the people getting fed were the people who worked the shift when the donations showed up. That meant that if you work the graveyard shift, which is already not the most desirable employment you can have, you didn’t get the meal that your daylight colleagues did, so we’ve always brought enough for everyone in the form of a vacuum-packed meal you can heat up at your leisure. I know you can only go back to the same well so many times, but if you know someone who feels strongly about gifting a supportive meal to someone who practices mental or physical health care every day to the benefit of this community, please do send them this link,
and thank them for us. And for the people at both emergency service providers.
As to the subject of missing out but being happy to sequester yourself, you’re invited to attend, or not attend, this Saturday’s wine tasting, a collection of interesting varietals that don’t fall among the six Noble Grapes, but which are quite delicious despite that fact.
There’s more afoot, but it’s all nebulous at this point, so I’ll spare you the chitchat until I have details to accompany it, and you’ll hear more soon about what’s coming up at Feast. Meanwhile, stay well and happy, and visit us every now and again. We’d love to see you.
All your buddies at Feast