So tonight I had my first orientation and training for the volunteer position at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. It did not go fantastically like I envisioned it would. Here's the breakdown...
Wanting to look my very best and dress to impress, if you will, I opted to go for a business casual look. Where I'm from the rule is it is better to be over dressed and over educated than under dressed or under educated (that's a great rule of thumb). Since I received an email telling me that the building was very old and thus didn't have air conditioning, I knew to wear something fairly light. I chose a very conservative red dress made of cotton. This dress displays no cleavage and brushes my knees. I felt it was a safe choice. In a follow up email, the director told us to wear comfortable shoes. So, I pushed the peep toe pumps I had selected out of the way and went with leopard print ballet flats (I've had them for years and thanks to gorilla glue and Dr Scholl's pads, I'll have them forever). The orientation started at 5:30pm in Tacoma (that's about 35 minutes from my house, for all you out of towners). Between myself and my destination lies a black hole where traffic is sucked in and you are released hours later dazed, confused, and a bit worn for wear. This hole's name is JBLM, or Joint Base Lewis McChord. I have no idea why, but if you should ever have to drive on I-5 through JBLM for any reason on any day at any time, you will find yourself at a complete standstill. For this reason, I left my house an hour and a half early. I had to stop for gas where a random man called me beautiful and questioned why I didn't have an engagement ring (Beats me, buddy. I'm a catch!). I headed out of town as my ego deflated. Naturally, JBLM held me for what seemed like a year, but I finally made it to the other side. I arrived at the orientation 5 minutes late. After all that, I was still 5 minutes late. Gah. As I made my way to the room where the others were already introducing themselves, I felt an odd shift. Everyone turned to look at me (to be expected when someone walks in late), but instead of hearty greetings, I felt eyes of judgement. Throughout the night, others made comments on my handbag, my outfit, and the way I talk. (I'm southern! This accent is charming! Deal with it, hippies!). I greatly underestimated the heat level of the place as well. I assumed "no AC" meant, "Eh, we don't have AC, but we keep it pretty well ventilated." Instead it meant "there's no need to pour water on the hot stones, your sweat and tears fuel this sauna." We walked up and down at least half a dozen flights of stairs to tour the "facility". When I asked about donating and cleaning one room, I was accused of having no tact by a fellow volunteer. (I'm sorry, but when a room resembles some haunted closet from a Scooby Doo cartoon, I don't think kids are going to want to go inside. Besides, all I asked was if we could donate lighting and clean cobwebs). In the end, we were all informed of the physical activities that were required of us as volunteers. While it sounded like a lot of fun for the pre-cardiac patient Courtney, I knew it wasn't possible for the Courtney I am now. I drove home weighing all the pros and cons. After a talk with Micah, Heather, and my friends back home, I've come to the realization that I can't be of any help to anyone if I don't put my own needs first. Passing out face first (since that tends to be the way I go down) on the concrete floor of Scooby's haunted gymnasium would probably only send these grieving children back into therapy (and lest we forget the damage to my moneymaker). I feel good about my decision even though I was sad it came down to having to ask for relocation. This program isn't in the main hospital building, and is located in a not so great part of town (I assume this from the rules of "nobody is allowed outside alone at any time," "doors are locked 24/7 for your safety", and my favorite: "please don't carry your handguns into the facility"). I know the right opportunity is out there waiting on me. I just have to find it. In the meantime, you can find me dancing away with my golden gals in Silver Sneakers. Oh, you don't know what that is? Looks like we just discovered tomorrow's post topic!
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