A Helping Hand [Part Un]

I'm not a stranger to volunteer work.  I can easily remember times throughout my life when my mom would come home with some random new volunteer assignment for us.  We're going to start re-shelving books at the library!  I signed up for a bake sale at work so let's make some cookies!  Have you ever heard of Queen for a day?  Well, we're going to start participating in their fund-raisers!  In fact, I'm pretty sure that every time I've volunteered for any cause, it was either because my mom dragged me along, or because school mandated it (rather than earning pay as a camp counselor this past summer, I spent 70 hours volunteering at a day care- which I loved doing, but getting paid would have been nice, had it been possible).

So when we when were told as a class that we were going to be doing some community service... well, I didn't exactly jump out of my seat.  Helping people is all well and good, and I'm all for the golden rule, but I'm a really busy girl.  I just don't always have time to give back.  My philosophy is always airline 101- put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.  It can sound callus when I try to explain it, but it's something I've always stood firmly by.  I would love to help others, but I'm not going to be able to do much for them if I can't help myself first.  (This isn't just about myself, you can apply this theory to whole countries even- but I won't get into that now!)

But yeah, I was just going to have to go along with it.  It was for a grade after all.

When I got to the clothes closet of the Baldwin Center I was surprised to say the least- and already thrown off by passing the place three times.  I was kind of shocked to see how many people had come so early.  It was about 10:30 when I got there, because I didn't have class in the afternoon and had that time to my leisure, so I figured I may as well get a tiny bit more sleep.  But when I arrived, the majority of the class was there, all crammed into one little room, slathering mint green paint over everything in sight.

As someone who actually has quite a lot of experience painting walls, it was appalling.  There were neglected corners, blotchy edges, areas where the paint had been applied too liberally and was now forming semi-permanent drips... there were way too many people and not enough ladders or walls.  Still, I jumped in as best I could, knowing that once some of my classmates began clearing out I would be better able to do the task.

And that was where my experience began.