Thursday Vibes: Be Like The Sandwich Ladies

Thursday Thoughts for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses

“15 rows across. 10 rows down. Flip the bread on its back and get ready to place one slice of turkey and one slice of cheese on top,” the sandwich ladies instructed me. One left us to help someone else, so I had a chance to ask how and when these two ladies started making so many sandwiches to feed the hungry, “We started in 2008 when we were challenged to do more outreach in our parish by one of our priests, and we haven’t stopped since.” Today we are only making 150 sandwiches, “a small tally compared to most days,” said my new friend.

My memory rushed back to 2013 when my oldest son graduated from high school and ended my daily making of his peanut butter (no jelly!) sandwiches for lunch. He was a fussy eater and would only eat white or light brown items – thus white bread and peanut butter sandwiches. The morning of his graduation, I told him I counted making 2,250 peanut butter sandwiches during this school years and I deserved an extra hug for all those sandwiches. His 6’4” frame bent down and hugged me – obviously his height was genetic and not from his meal choices.

I’m not sure my husband would have made him all those sandwiches, but every morning the act of making something for him, gave my heart a lift knowing I was taking care of him. I sensed from the ‘sandwich ladies’ they felt the same way making luncheon treats for the needy. As I carefully laid the turkey and cheese on the bread and then put full sandwiches in plastic bags and counted them for inventory purposes, I felt I was handling them with as much care as my son’s PBs.

“We’ll keep making these sandwiches every day until we can’t anymore,” both women told me. I sensed their kindness and compassion for people who depend on a simple sandwich for a meal. If they had the will and way to make them, they would. Happy to the core, and a bit jolly, their enthusiasm will remind me anytime I make something as simple as a luncheon sandwich that the love that goes into making it, does pass along to the person eating it.