A Salute to Volunteers

Yesterday, I volunteered for a full day for the very first time. I mean, I've volunteered before but not for this long in one building. Anyways, the first two hours was absolute torture. The entire group of kids consisted of about fifteen boys and three girls. All around the age of 10-12. So there was this 'gym time' thing where they play organized games such as soccer, basketball, etc. As volunteers, originally, I thought all we had to do was to supervise them. But since there weren't many kids, the 'boss' decided that the volunteers should play as well. Now, before I go any further, the only thing I can say about the group of kids is the only way they'll respect you is if you're either a guy or you're extremely good at sports. Since I am neither, I only got ridiculed when I attempted to be friendly and was ignored when I tried to enforce any control at all. When we were 'playing', I bascially stood around the entire time since I didn't get passed the ball or anything, bringing back old feelings of inferiority in P.E. class from Elementary school, not exactly a feeling that cheers me up. After gym time, it got a little better. We (the volunteers) had to 'supervise'. Which meant we were playing foosball, ping pong, and cards. I think the best thing that happened was I learned how to play poker. I don't know how people can volunteer everyday like this. Argh, I mean I found myself hating the kids. I'm trying hard not to, but I just can't help it. This is going to be a long summer...for me at least. To all the dedicated volunteers out there, I salute you! And I'm sorry if I ever gave any of you a hard time when I was a participant in any program.