Tonight I will make sandwiches for atheists.
With any luck there will be some theists or agnostics for whom I will be making sandwiches also.
But the atheists are certain as the local atheist group has reserved the conference section of the restaurant where I work. These atheists do this every year here. In a place where "local" means heavily religious, an atheist group would be a tight bunch.
I have been making sandwiches for the past three weeks between three to five days out of the week at this particular restaurant. I have made sandwiches in a number of other situations, both paid and not, though I would not consider myself a master of the art. Even so I do pride myself on a rather firm grasp on sandwich theory. Other theories, not so much.
When my coworker found out that the atheists would be in attendance, he espoused his Taoist opinion with regards the big questions out there. I do not know what I believe in or don't believe in but knowing simply that life exists and persists chills my bones.
Most mornings I am simply amazed to wake up.
This morning I awoke in a state of profound disbelief at the severe pounding overhead. The sort of beating that makes a hangover feel like a tickle in comparison.
Then I recalled that the roofers were scheduled to start today. Start by removing the failing roof of my mother's house. I think that they started on top of my room first. At 7 am. Which means that I got much less than the recommended allotment of sleep for the night and am floating down the hours until the noise ceases after my making of the sandwiches stops for the night.
I knew that the roofers were coming because there's a giant dumpster parked in the driveway. I dreamt of diving in and finding a world of more food than anyone could ever want. Instead I carried on, willfully disbelieving the inevitable by staying up late reading fairy tales. Which made waking up most unfun.
The roofers took a break for lunch, during which my mind began to calm somewhat. I suppose that I should have simply left the house immediately upon waking, but I was tired and did not want to expend much energy, knowing I would have to work later tonight. After I broke my fast though I decided that some fresh air and non-banging would do me good, so I went to two thrift stores.
Thrifting is always an interesting experience and today was no different. For one, there was a dog smoking weed inside the first one. The dog left without buying anything. I thought I had managed to time my visit before most of the high schoolers rolled in, but then I remembered that the high schools were not in session for the day.
There was a very large Canadian flag for sale (don't ask me the price, I didn't check) and the usual assortment of bric-a-brac and castoff clothing. None of the clothes suited me much but I did find a CD from a band I'd heard good things about and decided not to buy a CD from a band I'd heard questionably good things about. I bought some shoes, a Soviet spoof by an English wit and ten old faded photographs and spent nearly all of my thirteen dollars.
And tonight I will earn a few more more dollars, making sandwiches for the atheists.
As much as I would like to have the chance to overhear their atheistic chatter, I won't be able to do so, being in the kitchen, making the sandwiches. But I will be perfectly happy, listening to bad techno instead of the banging of roofers overhead.