The Morrisons Ch. 16

Mary looked at Ted and said, "Don't worry about the place on my body where you can hide something, you pervert."

Everyone started laughing as we walked out into the kitchen headed for the garage. Once everyone was loaded in the cars, I took the lead and Terri pulled her car in behind me followed by Jenna and lastly Ted brought up the end of our little convoy.

We had a smooth ride into the city and arrived at The Majestic about fifteen minutes before our reservations. We parked and walked into the restaurant as a group and I was very delighted to hear they could seat us immediately. They moved a few tables together so we could sit as a group. We enjoyed a great conversation while we waited for our meals to arrive. While we ate the girls started talking about going shopping. I spoke up saying, "Ladies, I know we are taking a large plane to Germany, but there's no need in loading it down with piles of clothes."

Kim said, "Stop worrying Dan, we're only going to take four suitcases each." Suddenly laughter broke out around the table and when I looked at Ted and Jake, they just shrugged their shoulders and went back to eating.

We finished brunch and I took care of the bill. Collectively, we decided to go to the veteran shelter first before going shopping. I told Ted he should lead us to the veteran shelter since he'd been there before and all of us will follow him. We turned onto East Front Street and right away I saw a building on the left side of the street with an American Flag and a POW/MIA flag in front of the building on flag poles. We pulled into the parking lot on the side of the building and Kim said, "I want to go in with you."

Suddenly from the back seat I heard from everyone, "We want to go with you too."

We got out of the car and soon everyone was standing beside me. We walked over to the front door and I opened it and looked in. I saw a person in worn military clothes sitting behind a small table being used for a desk just inside the front door, so I walked over to him with everyone following me. I said, "Hi, my name is Dan Morrison and I'd like to talk to whoever is in charge of your shelter."

The older guy stood up and said, "I'm Bernie and I'm one of the guys in charge here, but Sam is the real boss. If you give me a second, I'll go get him."

I turned and looked at everyone then surveyed the room that was set up like a dining room on the end we were standing in and at the far end there was a couch and some chairs with a small television in the corner. Soon enough I saw Bernie walking back towards us with another person dressed in worn military camo who I presumed was Sam.

When they got near us Bernie said, "Mr. Morrison, this is Sam."

Sam extended his hand and asked, "Hello, how may I help you?"

I shook hands with Sam and said, "Sir, I recently found out you had a veterans shelter down here and I wanted to stop by and see what you have. The people behind me are mostly my family with a few others who are close friends."

Sam smiled at me and said, "First, I'm not a sir. I was in the Army and I was a Sergeant First Class and it was the enlisted men, like me, who made the sirs (officers) look good. Were you in the military, Dan?"

I replied, "No, I've never been in the military. I didn't avoid going into the military, I've just never been called. I appreciate everything you guys did for our country and continue to do today. I'm sure running this shelter for homeless veterans is not any easy task, especially with the economy the way it is. I stopped here today to look around, to be nosey, if you will. I want to see what I can do to assist you and make it easier for you to run this place. On top of that, I want to go back to my company and find out what our hiring policy is pertaining to veterans and create one, if there are no provisions. So our trip here has a two-fold purpose."

Sam's eyes got wide and he said, "Would you like a tour of our facilities?"

I smiled and said, "We'd love a tour."

Sam turned to Bernie and said, "Go up and tell the guys we have some visitors who will be walking through in a few minutes."

Bernie scurried off as Sam started talking to us by saying, "First, I want to say this shelter is a drug and alcohol free area. We don't allow spaced out or drunks to hang out here. We provide meals for them and we have a small area for them to watch television. There are card tables down there in the corner for the guys who want to play cards, but we don't allow gambling here. Upstairs we have a dormitory type setup with a bunch of beds so the veterans can sleep here instead of under a bridge or in an alley. We have both male and female veterans using this facility. Let's start with the kitchen."

Sam took us into the kitchen and I noticed right away there wasn't any commercial type equipment. There was three very clean regular kitchen gas ranges standing side by side. There was a two bay stainless steel sink and there were only a few large pots and pans, the rest were regular cookware. I asked Sam, "How many veterans do you feed here on a regular day?"

Sam replied, "Mr. Morrison, it all depends on the veterans. In the mornings we serve breakfast and we serve about thirty or so vets, sometimes more. Lunch is usually light because the vets are out trying to find work or collecting bottles and cans to get some money. At dinner time we serve anywhere between thirty and fifty."

Moving past us, Sam said, "Over here is where we have a small area for the veterans to relax. Our television is limited to the local channels because it cost money for cable or satellite and we can't afford luxuries like that. If all of you will follow me we'll go upstairs and I'll show you the sleeping area."

We walked up a narrow stairway to the second floor and when we walked through the door we saw rows of bunk beds on each side of the room. Sam said, "The vets come up here and choose a bed and go to sleep. We don't have any assigned beds so its first come, first served."

We started walking down the center aisle and there were some guys sitting on their beds. Then we came to a few women sitting on their beds and Kim gasped. Sam heard Kim and turned around saying, "Yes, we have women veterans here as well. We don't have the money to make a separate room for the female veterans, so they sleep here, as well as, the male veterans. We take care of any veteran who comes here sober. We don't turn away the veterans who are drunk or high on drugs; we get them help through a veteran councilor that's on call for us."

We had been walking down the center aisle when I realized Kim wasn't behind me anymore. I looked back and saw Kim was squatting down and talking to a couple of the female veterans. We walked to the end of the room where Sam opened a door. We looked in and saw it was one large room with a few toilets and a few sinks in the open area. We stepped into the bathroom, which was very clean, and we saw an open shower with several shower heads protruding from the wall. There were no curtains in front of the shower. Sam explained that if one of the women veterans had to use the head or the shower, another one would usually stand outside the door. Sam told us the bathroom was a typical style bathroom found in the old military barracks. He said the new military barracks had more modern facilities, but the shelter couldn't afford to build separate bathrooms or showers.

He continued to say, "Most of the guys using the bathroom just go in, so sometimes a woman vet will walk in on a guy."

He said, "We have a cleaning detail each morning just like we had in the military. So the veterans using the facilities help keep it clean."

Kim walked into the bathroom and looked around, then walked over to me and asked, "Sam, do both males and females use this same bathroom and shower?"

Sam said, "Yes, that's what I was telling the rest of your group. Also, we didn't put a lock on the door because it just isn't feasible to have one person in here and twenty more waiting to get in. So really everyone has to take their chances in here. Besides, there is honor amongst our troops who use this facility. We are all brothers and sisters in arms."

I looked at Sam and said, "I want to help but I will be traveling on business for my company most of this next week. After I've had a chance to check my company's hiring policy, when I get back, I would like to come back here and meet with the veterans. I want to see if we can get them into a job they are qualified to do. In the mean time, do you have an IRS, EIN number for being a tax exempt organization? Do you have your last IRS 990 filing?"

Sam said, "If you follow me back downstairs we'll go to my office and I can show you whatever you need to see."

We followed Sam downstairs and I followed him to his office. Once in his office Sam showed me his EIN number and his last IRS 990 form. I was satisfied he was operating a legal veteran homeless shelter. I pulled out my checkbook and wrote a check to the organization's name and when I handed it to Sam, he stared at the check and asked, "Are you sure you can afford this, Mr. Morrison?"

I looked at Sam and said, "Yes Sam, I can afford it and I will be in touch with you when I get back from my trip so we can set up a meeting for me to come here and speak to your veterans. Can the veterans use this address if they needed one for a job application?"

Sam replied, "Yes they can. I will do anything to help my troops."

I asked Sam for a card or at least the phone number for the shelter. After he gave me his card and I saw up in the top left corner of the card was a picture of our American Flag and in the right corner was a very recognizable picture of the 101st Airborne patch. Under the 101st Airborne patch was the words, "Vietnam Veteran" I held out my hand and said, "Thank you so much for your service to our country."

Sam reached out and gripped my hand in a vice like handshake and said, "You are welcome Mr. Morrison and I look forward to seeing you again."

I walked back into the room where my family and friends were waiting for me and I walked over and held out my hand and said, "Bernie, it's been a pleasure to meet you and thank you again for your service to our country."

Bernie stood up, extended his arm and shook my hand saying, "Thank you so much, sir."

Everyone took turns shaking hands with Sam and Bernie before we walked out the door. We got outside and when we got over by the car I noticed Kim had tears in her eyes. I walked over and quietly hugged her and asked her what was bothering her. She shook her head then opened the car door. I asked where everyone wanted to go and it was determined that we need to go to the mall next. Everyone got into the car they were riding in and I led the small convoy to the mall. I found some parking spaces close together and all of us parked in one location.

We went into the mall and by mutual consent we decided not to split up but to go to the shops together. You can imagine some of the shop keepers faces when all seventeen of us walking into a shop. We wandered around and the females purchased a variety of items. Jenna did her best to embarrass Kevin in the lingerie shop and she succeeded by holding up a pair of tiny, sheer panties and yelling, "Hey Kev, would you like to see me in these tiny panties?"

Kevin slapped his forehead and turned back towards the rest of us and asked me, "Is Jenna like this all the time?"

I replied, "You haven't seen anything yet. She's not even in high gear."

By the time we stopped at the Victoria's Secret Store, all the females got in on the act and attempted to embarrass all of us males. As we wandered through the store each one of them took turns selecting something sexy, which most of the time ended up to be a pair of panties or a bra and panty set, then hold it up and ask in a louder than necessary voice if they'd look sexy wearing that particular item. People around us would stare then start laughing.

Terri and Hanna walked over to the granny panty section and each of them picked up a pair and held the stretched out pair of panties above their head and asked me if I thought they'd look sexy in the granny panties. In a voice loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, Terri said, "Dad, we'd be happy to model these for you if you want us to." The other women in our group were almost rolling in the aisle laughing. People in the store looked at me and all I could do was turn my back to them and talk to Jake, Ted, Fred and Kevin who were laughing as much as the women. After that final blow, the females in our group decided it was time to leave Victoria's Secret.

We stopped at the food court and had something to drink then finished shopping. Kim made sure both Terri and Hanna had a variety of clothes to wear and bought each of them a suitcase. Ted and I ended up putting the bags inside the suitcases and each of us was given the job of testing the roller wheels on the suitcases until we reached the car. I put both of the suitcases in the back of my car and then asked, "Does anyone have someplace they want to go while we are in the city?"

Everyone looked at each other and no one said anything. We got back into our cars and I led our small convoy towards home. I looked at Kim as I was driving and I asked her if she was ok and she said, "I feel sorry for all the men and women living at the veteran shelter. All of them served proudly in our military and now our government has forgotten them and they are living below the poverty level. I'm going to see what I can do to get some of them back to work."

Jake said, "Kim, I know how you feel. Kathy and I have never been exposed to the type of living those former military people are forced to live in. When we get home, I'm going to check and see if we have a homeless shelter near us and if we do, I'm going to see what we can do about getting some of them jobs on some of our area farms or local businesses."

We arrived home and took all the purchases into the house. While everyone was together I advised them to pack what they were going to take on the trip so they could enjoy themselves later. Everyone went to their bedrooms and Kim and I went into our room and both of us pulled out the clothes we needed. I packed suits and some leisure clothes while Kim packed mostly leisure clothes.

Terri came into our bedroom and told me she checked the phone messages and Captain McGrath called and wanted me to call him when I returned home. She also told us Jeff Simpson called and thanked us for inviting him and his family to the party yesterday. I looked at Kim and asked, "Do you mind if we have some children running around here this afternoon?"

Kim replied, "Absolutely not. If you're going to do what I think you're going to do, then have Mary and Shelly call their guests so they can spend some more time with them before we go away."

Terri said, "I'll take care calling Jeff and will tell Mary and Shelly they can invite their guests to come back. I'll tell Mary to give Joanna a call and invite her back out for the afternoon, just in case she's too bashful to come back on her own."

I smiled and said, "Terri, let me know when everyone is off the phone and I'll make my call."

Terri came back into our bedroom about ten minutes later smiling as she said, "Jeff and his family are on their way out here now. He was very excited to be invited back here. He said his kids couldn't stop talking about how much fun they had yesterday. Mary called her friends, Sue and Jack, but they are busy so they won't be coming, but when Shelly called her brother Ken he asked his wife and kids and all of them jumped at the chance to come back out here. They'll be here in a little while. Mary called Joanna and she jumped at the chance to come back. She will be here soon as well."

Terri handed me a piece of paper with the number Captain McGrath left on the voice mail, so I called the number. When he picked up the phone I said, "Hello, this is Dan Morrison returning your call."

Captain McGrath got right to the point and said, "Mr. Morrison I understand you are taking some extra people on this trip with you. Since this flight is going to be an international flight, I want to make sure you know everyone will need to have a passport with them. We will have to clear Customs both in Germany and when we come back to the United States. I will make all the arrangements of getting our flight to a gate so we can get through Customs as quickly as possible. Mr. Morrison, as a formality only, I have to ask you to inform your fellow passengers they need to leave anything illegal or their guns at home, we don't want to be held up going through Customs."

I smiled to myself and said, "You won't have anything to worry about. No one will be carrying anything that's illegal."

Captain McGrath replied, "That's great, Mr. Morrison. Like I said, it was only a formality I mentioned it because of having to go through Customs."

I asked, "Are we taking the Airbus A350?"

Captain McGrath said, "Yes sir, that's what your secretary asked for when she made the arrangements for our flight. Mr. Banks told me you are the one who will be doing all the flying for the company, so we'll be spending a lot of time in the air together. As we get to know each other better, I will learn which plane you would like to take on certain flights."

I smiled and said, "Yes sir, and I'm looking forward to this trip."

Captain McGrath said, "Mr. Morrison, I'd like to suggest that you be at the airport no later than nine o'clock tomorrow morning. That way we will be able to load the luggage in the plane and we can be cleared for takeoff around ten o'clock. The earlier we get into the air the better. I will file all my flight plans based on the schedule I just gave you. Please remember, Frankfurt Germany is seven hours ahead of our time."

I said, "You're the captain, so whatever you say, that's the time we will be there. Is there a special gate we should enter? I remember Joe Bailey took us right into the airport to the plane the last time. I will be driving my cars this time so I'll need a place to park them."

Captain McGrath gave me the instructions which gate to go to and told me we can park inside company's hangar. I told him when we get to the airport he could give me our estimated time for landing so I could have Beth call the hotel and have them send their shuttle bus out to the airport to pick us up. Then it dawned on me and I asked him, "Where will you and the crew be staying while in Germany?"

Captain McGrath said, "Because this is your first trip overseas, Brenda Summers made the hotel reservations for me and my crew. We will be staying in the same hotel as you'll be staying in. The next time we fly, your secretary, Beth Thompson, will have to add the flight crew into the number of guests staying at the hotel. Don't worry, Mr. Morrison; we'll work out all the kinks as we go along."

I thanked Capt. McGrath for his help and told him we would be at the airport on time. After I hung up the phone I was talking to Kim and she asked me, "Dan, how are we going to get everyone's luggage to the airport in the morning?"

I stopped what I was doing and looked at Kim and finally responded, "I never thought about that until you mentioned it. You're right, there is too much to go in the cars with the people."

I walked down to Ted's bedroom where both he and Marion were busy packing and I asked Ted, "Do you know anyone with a pickup truck who would come out here first thing in the morning and take all of our luggage to the airport? It won't fit in the cars with all the people."

Ted started laughing then he said, "Damn, you're right. I know a few people with pickup trucks. I'll call and see if I can find one who will help us out."