Being Neighborly

This morning while working at our reception desk, 2 women came into the building and told me they were from the building next door, and that due to a fire in their building, all the workers (600) were evacuated. They had been standing outside in the cold (it was 47 degrees outside and very windy), and needed to use a restroom. I told them it was perfectly fine and pointed the way to our ladies room. A few minutes later one of my friends and our office manager walked outside to a big group of the stranded workers and invited them into our lobby. By the time they all filed in, I estimated there to be somewhere between 150 and 175 people - all talking at once. We had people everywhere - in the dining room, library, on the stairs, and in the lobby. They were so thrilled to be inside where it was warm. Soon I noticed coffee was being served to them. Many of them took turns to visit with me and asked me about the books we produce. They told me they make computers for government contracts. Such nice people.

While they were there, one of my friends emailed me and asked if I thought it would be okay if we ordered a bunch of pizzas to feed them, since lunch time was approaching. "Sure, I'll go in on them," I replied. She ordered 10 large pizzas to be delivered, but before the pizzas arrived, our neighbors got the "all clear" sign from the fire chief and returned to their building. We were able to have the pizza delivery person drop them off at their office. It felt so good to help out in their time of need.