Clouds

Its a cold morning. At 8:00, the sun has still yet to come out from under its cover of clouds. I walk down the stairs into the center and the clouds sneak in behind me as the door closes. In the basement of the center, the depression hangs thick in the air. It is one of those days. One of those days I would read about before I started working here, a day where all would seem lost until one brief, shining moment would make all this challenging work seem worthwhile.

A man comes up to the desk, "Can we watch a movie?"

"No, we start the movie at 9. It's only 8:30."

He shuffles back to his seat; I return to the morning paper. One of those days.

I try to find the lesson in this. That moment that makes all the work seem worthwhile. The touching story. The moment of hope. But this is not one of those days. It is simply a day to abide, a day to be. A day where all we can offer is a cup of coffee, stale donuts, a place to sit and not much more.

And for today, that's enough.