For Christmas as a teenager I would volunteer at our church to deliver fruit baskets to the elderly and shut-ins. The recipients were grateful and friendly. We spent time visiting with them and hearing their interesting stories.

One stop brought us to a nursing home. Two of the crew went in while we stayed in the van. Old faces appeared in the glass doors of the home. First there were one or two interested parties. But soon there were more.

They emerged through the doors. Like a zombie movie the seasoned citizens made their way steadily towards the van shuffling their feet slowly but with purpose. “Lock the doors!” somebody exclaimed. When the old timers reached the van, they grabbed the door handles and tried to get in. Then somebody up front rolled down a window and shouted “Go back inside!” A look of disappointment swept over their faces. They quietly crept back inside to the warmth of the home.

I didn’t realize until years later that our church van looked like the van that the home used to transport the folks to the pharmacy. For some of them it may have been their periodic escape from the comfortable but too familiar surroundings to a new and different environment. Or maybe they just wanted to get more drugs. I’m not proud that we disappointed some seniors that day. But there is a life lesson here: sometimes our assumptions are wrong but we won’t know unless we try.

photo credit: Ethan Prater

Here is a charity event that should be painless for you if you enjoy “The Big Lebowski”. The non-profit organization, Gateway Council, is putting on the 1st Annual St. Louis Lebowskifest at the Moolah Theatre/Lanes on Thursday night, Feb. 2. Event and bowling tournament start at 8 p.m. Ticket price is $25 and includes a free t-shirt, a free beer, free bowling and a midnight screening of the movie. If you come dressed as your favorite Lebowski character, you could win a ton of other free stuff. For ticket and event info visit www.moonlightramble.com.

This past Saturday I participated in the Heart Walk with co-workers from Lockheed Martin. We walked three miles in Forest Park and enjoyed the fine weather. A local news channel caught me on camera. I was on TV for three seconds last night. Oddly, Mel Gibson has not called. Fame is so fleeting.

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Tom at the Heart Walk. Photo by Myra

My friend Tom D invited me to the Moonlight Masquerade, a costume party. The event happened at the City Museum, a unique museum in downtown St Louis featuring multiple floors including an architecture museum, a large doorknob collection, an aquarium and an outdoor structure where you climb a wire mesh into an airplane.

I took Myra, a woman with which I work. We had a great time. It was nice to hang with friends and help out charity.

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Myra and I are old-school gangstas.

Jason and Jenny are incognito

My buddy Adam

Woman in a white dress