I was just watching a documentary on the Meanness Of Girls[sup]TM[/sup], and it reminded me of something strange that happened when I was young.
I was a bit of an outcast in elementary school. I was made fun of for “using big words” and my lack of athletic prowess, looks and money didn’t help either. I frequently walked around the yard with the volunteers who would monitor recesses. One of them liked me so much that she invited me to her home to watch My Fair Lady after school. I take this as evidence that I wasn’t a complete social boob, and that I was likeable.
One day, a tall, thin woman with very little hair was the yard monitor. I’d never spoken to her before. I tried to strike up a conversation with her, and she rebuffed me immediately, saying; “Look, I don’t care, so just go play with your little friends, ok?”
I didn’t really have any “little friends” to be with, since I was the target of We’re Not Talking To You And We Won’t Tell You Why[sup]property of Meanness Of Girls[/sup] that week.
I was so scarred by this, that when I saw the Thin Woman on the street when I was in high school, I pointed her out to the friend I was with at the time. I told him the story of what happened and he said; “I never told you this, okay, but I’ve seen her at [The AIDS charity], where I volunteer.” So I felt sorry for her, but I never understood her overly harsh, irrational reaction.
So what the hell was an embittered person doing working as a volunteer? She didn’t even have to be there if she didn’t want to be. “I hate children enough that the mildest annoyance causes me to snap at innocent preteens! Why don’t I become a school yard monitor? Yeah, that’s a great idea!”
Man, it makes me wonder if some day when my mom dies or something equally nasty, and I bump into someone on the street without apologizing that they will carry it around with them for the rest of their life.
I think the OP is saying that it was insinuated the woman has AIDS. What she’s commenting about is the fact the woman was working on a playground, VOLUNTEERING to be a playground moniter at a school, if she was unable for whatever reason to deal with kids. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s what I read.
Erm, the OP is asking why she was volunteering, trying to understand why a person who could be so mean would volunteer to do such a thing. I wonder if maybe she wasn’t trying to “do the right thing” to “gain salvation”? Just a thought…
“So what the hell was an embittered person doing working as a volunteer?”
Well, just why do you think an “embittered person” should not be allowed to work as a volunteer? Have you always felt this way about “embittered” people? And, shouldn’t embittered people have the same rights in society as others?
Let’s just put that sentence in it’s context with the rest of the paragraph. She’s wondering why she chose to do her charity works around children, where interaction with them was inevitable.
It wasn’t phrased very well, but you can get to the heart of her questions if you make an effort. I think it’s a valid question. Sure, go ahead, volunteer. Just be responsible, if you see that you cannot treat those around you with dignity, then find another worthy cause, where you will be able to treat others with respect.
I don’t know, it seems to me that someone who can’t put up with children should not be working with children. I’m not saying I’d do any better, which is why I don’t work with children.
[QUOTE=Zabali_Clawbane]
Let’s just put that sentence in it’s context with the rest of the paragraph. She’s wondering why she chose to do her charity works around children, where interaction with them was inevitable.
That was exactly what I meant.
flight, your analogy doesn’t apply, since the issue was that this woman was somewhere she obviously couldn’t tolerate, for whatever reason, and she chose to put herself there. There is nothing logical (or responsible) about this. Also, what she did wasn’t an unintentional bump, but a personal attack.
In my school, the (volunteer, from what I know) lunch attendants were also singularly unfriendly with the kids. However, I think it might have been a networking/socialization opportunitty as much as it was a charity opportunity, as they would spend a lot more time talking to themselves than to the kids. of course as this was a gifted school we probably were already above their comprehension level
Getting something accomplished with people who are paid to do a job is frequently difficult, add the “volunteer” factor and the job gets a lot more difficult.
And, people “volunteer” for a lot of reasons and many of those reasons have nothing to do with altruism or competency. At one point in my life I was involved in the juvenile parole program (volunteers) in Memphis - I was astonished at the number of morons who tried to get into this program just so they could get their hands on a badge.
Wow, Ludovic, if it wasn’t for the whole gifted thing, I’d wonder if we went to the same school. I don’t know if the lunch monitors at my primary school were volunteers or not, but there was only one friendly late, and the rest of them were nasty and constantly snapped at the kids. I also have often wondered why they even bothered to work there, since they clearly hated it.
Am I mistaken or was this the one interaction you had with her as a playground volunteer? As it is you are all reading a lot into a person who for all that any of you know could be one of the nicest people you would ever meet who absolutely loves kids. If this was a pattern of behavior then you may have a point, but it was ONE INSTANCE. Do you have any idea what may or may not have happened to that person that very morning? Hell, it doesn’t even seem that we even know if this person was a regular volunteer here or maybe she was just covering for a friend. Perhaps she hates kids but decided to do a friend a favor by filling in for her.
The point is none of you have any idea, so it is a little early to start condemning the person for one snarky comment which really wasn’t offensive at all. It sure as hell wasn’t a personal attack.
For the record, the volunteers at my school were practically angels. It was in a nice, suburban area that was chock-full of kids, and most of the monitors were moms. This was my one negative experience, which is probably why I found it so bewildering.
