Mealtime

“Join me for lunch”, he said

So I did.

Little did I know it, I was about to witness something that was enough to suck the oxygen out of the room.

It was the lead-up to Easter 2014, when Reverend Bill Crews invited me to lunch at the Loaves and Fishes Restaurant in Ashfield, run by the Exodus Foundation.

If you don’t know it, the Loaves and Fishes feeds 1000 (thousand) homeless people per day.

It’s about ten minutes away from where Prime Minister Albanese grew up.

At the time, Reverend Bill was trying to raise money for a dental chair but with little luck. The then Coalition government ignored his requests as did the previous Labor government of six years.

So he had to beg with cap in hand, asking for donations.

Surrounding us in the dining hall were tables full of hungry, homeless people, inflicted with a common thread of ailments – depression, gum disease, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Rev. Bill reckoned everyone in the room had at least three of these illnessess, possibly more.

But if he could just get his hands on a dental chair, his helpers could at least arrest some gum disease which usually lead to heart disease, septicemia plus other complications.

Put simply, the chair would be his lead domino.

And then without warning, Rev. Bill tapped my arm and the conversation immediately changed gears.

It was like a message from God, when two very unkept men sat down at the next table opposite us.

“Keep your eye on these blokes” he said.

I unconsciously stopped eating. Eyes glued.

For the first few minutes, not much happened. The fellow on the right began eating while the other one just sat there.

And then Rev. Bill whispered…

“Why do you think the fella on the left isn’t eating?”

“Maybe he feels a bit nauseous or perhaps the food is too hot for him?” I said.

“Keep watching”, he said.

And then a few moments later, the first bloke finished his meal.

He gently put his knife and fork down, and without hesitation, he removed his false teeth and handed them to his mate…so he could eat his meal.

Two friends sharing one set of false teeth.

I kid you not.

You see, the sad thing is, for months we’ve listened to parliamentary hopefuls bang on about ‘integrity’ and ‘equality’.

Yet, not once, did I see an election candidate standing in a soup kitchen with their sleeves rolled up, serving those much less fortunate.

And you never will because the homeless don’t vote.

Instead, we had to listen to who has the most impressive economic or environmentally responsible track record.

And I’m sorry if this offends, but how is zero emissions more important than zero starvation, zero homelessness or zero care?

Why is a wind turbine for the idealogues more important than a set of teeth for the broken and voiceless under dogs?

So much for integrity and equality.

I could share hundreds more recent stories like those gentleman at lunch, all because rising living costs are sending people to the brink, in droves.

Sadly, that’s how I met Rev. Crews eight years ago, doing pro-bono work for a single mum, financially destitute.

During the election, Mr Albanese was at pains to remind us he grew up in housing commission with a single mum.

Maybe he could show the same determination and do something no other government has successfully achieved yet…

Make it a high priority to genuinely help those who can’t help themselves.

Enjoy your lunch.

Adam