I went back into the kitchen about two hours after dinner & found a ton of leftovers sitting out on the table, despite the fact that the fridge was already full. So I IMed my boss and asked if it would be all right if I made arrangements to donate the leftovers to a shelter or soup kitchen, which he said would be fine. At his suggestion, I e-mailed the entire office to let them know so that they'd also be able to take whatever food they wanted before I gave it away, but that they had a little time since I needed to find a place still open that would accept it and I was soliciting suggestions on places and I would be happy to take it over myself. I was a little discouraged after a few phone calls to shelters, who told me that they were closed for the night and no one would be available to accept the food. But what really discouraged me was the fact that one of my co-workers told me flat out, "Well, just make sure everyone knows. I mean, you're taking food from us!" Biting back acerbic words about how these people don't have food at all and we've already all eaten, I merely said that there was another full container of chicken left in the refrigerator. The second blow came when someone else I worked with, someone who I respected, thought was really cool and smart (and will admit to having a mild crush on) answered my e-mail by saying that most shelters won't take leftovers because of possible spoilage, but the killing blow came when she wrote something along the lines of "besides, homeless people don't want other people's leftovers. Why bother?"

I was fairly stunned, seeing as how I thought that if they're that hungry, homeless people will eat just about anything in order to survive, especially given the fact that I've seen them rummaging through trash cans to find leftover food thrown out. But I was more stunned by the response itself, especially from someone I thought highly of.

I was surprised to see how polarized the office was on the topic -- people who volunteered their help and thought it was a great idea, and people who looked down on it. Either way, I managed to find a shelter that was open, made arrangements and drove the food over. Also, I called up my best friend who was just getting home from a night out, so I went by her place to pick her up & we went together. So the night ended on an up note after all, I guess.