Communities Among the Unlikely

Whether it is on the corner of Bank and Bond Street or surfing an online encyclopedia, communities can be formed between the most unlikely individuals. These communities, where everyone is equal, are also open to anyone and rare. Similarly, both Beans and Bread and Wikipedia provide the doorways to such communities. At Beans and Bread, people of all ages, race and religious background come to share in what might be the only meal of their day. Likewise, Wikipedia allows anyone with access to a computer (anyone in the entire world), the choice to be a part of its community; where some choose to simply read the articles and others provide them. In any case, communities can be created in many ways by the most unlikely groups; just by simply stepping foot inside a small room, or with one click of a mouse.

Beans and Bread is a lot of things, but most importantly it is a community. It is also a warm place to eat a hot meal, as well as a table to bring your conversation. Beans and Bread’s community consists of a wide range of people from senior citizen volunteers to homeless and needy of all ages. As a student of Loyola College, I had the pleasure of helping those who dedicate their time running Beans and Bread; like Flo. Flo warmly greeted myself and several others arriving to volunteer on Saturday at 8:45 in the morning. Immediately we were introduced to the kitchen staff and assigned a preparation job. With our aprons and name tags on, we either folded napkins or arranged desserts on plates to dish out, all while persons who are materially poor sat on the benches patiently waiting to eat. Fifteen minutes before the serving began, Flo assigned me and four other peers with jobs for the day. I was quickly provided a job description and station for busing tables. Although I was unable to interact conversationally as much as desired, I still provided everyone with a clean place to sit and some fresh forks and napkins. Before the first dish was distributed, Flo lead with a blessing and then opened it up to anyone with something to say. I was shocked to see how many people had things to say, but one thing that touched my heart most was what one man in the corner said. He asked for everyone to pray for the American soldiers over seas and all those protecting our freedom. In this room, no bigger than a lecture classroom in Sellinger Hall, people of all ages, races, gender, economic and religious backgrounds prayed as one, as a community, for others not present. This really opened my eyes to the warm hearts that existed underneath the exterior layers of warn out clothes because I normally wouldn’t have expected such a prayer to resonate from someone of different needs. Instead of thanking God for the meal they were about to eat, they were thanking my brother and so many others for serving their time to their country. It was at that point that I realized a community of equals was present in that room; when everyone else was praying for the same thing I had every day. The boundaries that had been present between everyone else and I were lifted and I entered into that Beans and Bread community from that point on. Like I said, communities can be created between the most unlikely of people. After the three hours of serving were over, I helped clean up and left Beans and Bread.

Wikipedia is a lot of things, but most importantly it is a community. Although its creator had not anticipated it, “Wikipedia’s greatest achievement was the creation of a community.” Just as “wikipedians are officially anonymous,” all those who enter Beans and Bread become indistinctive from the person sitting aside them, except for the fact that they are commonly members of the same community. People in wikipedia cyber space can be a part of the same community without being the same gender, age or even without living on the same continent.

Communities are possible outside of the norm. Such communities that occur between the most unsuspected individuals should stand as role models to every other community created. The superstitious boundaries that might be present in other communities are overlooked when the people of different backgrounds come together to form a different kind of community like the one in Beans and Bread. The reasoning for this neglect of people’s differences is that in the end, everyone is human. Inevitably, everyone is alike in other ways than gender, age, race, etc. because everyone has the ability to feel similar emotions and think similar things as a human being. This is why, not just communities, but anything can happen between the most unlikely individuals.