Recently I started volunteering at Harborview Medical Center, where people who don't have corporate health care plans are prioritized. It lies right next to the most diverse zipcode in the entire country - approximately 80 languages are spoken! Gnarly. My position is in the ICU, so the people I walk by are more than just a little sick. I can only imagine how scary it is to be in surgery, or have family in surgery, language barriers, not a lot of money, and social problems when you get out (so far I have seen injuries from narcotics, knives, and guns), and a whole smorgasboard of family members. It appears pretty normal for the waiting room to have ukuleles, coolers, huge pots of food and endless amounts of toddlers at any given time.

Because I am sans paycheck, my responsibilities are little more than handing out pillows, taking names and pointing people in the right direction. And smiling. In this scary, painful place, a smile goes so far! People are so grateful for that extra millimeter of effort, and it's so easy! This might :) be a bit of an exaggeration, but I feel like I've found the crux of the human condition - one person has a hard day and another reaches out a hand.

View from the patio/parking lot. Sometimes it's bright ahead.