Volunteer Work

   "Honey!" C called out, "Your name is on the list."
   "What?!" I called back. "Why? I didn't volunteer."
   "I don't know. You'll have to come with me," C said.
    I was not happy. It had been a busy week and I had things to do. There was laundry to do and I still had not practiced our song for the Christmas Sacrament Meeting. However,my name was on this list so I had to go along.
   The thing that I had to go along to was a volunteer activity. It was the Secret Christmas Holiday Shop. This is where children get to buy presents for their parents and siblings for Christmas. The children come with their parent(s). The first thing they do is make of list of those they want to buy presents for. Then they decide how much they are going to spend. The parents buy tickets equal to the amount of the budget. Then the child goes with a shopper into the shop. The tickets are used to pay for the items they choose. Then the presents are brought to the wrappers who put the presents in gift bags and put name tags on them. The child collects a treat on the way out and goes back to their parent(s).
  I did not want to go. Beside the fact that I had things to do, I'm not good with children. I manage the children in my Primary class just fine, but I know them and I know their parents. Plus, it's a small group. I was scared and nervous.
  My name was on the list so I had to go. C and I met a group of six missionaries who were also volunteering. We went inside, hung our coats up and signed the volunteer list. Then we stood around waiting for directions. I could feel myself getting seriously anxious. I felt lost,alone and sick. I'm surrounded by strangers and I don't know what I'll be doing. The fact that I might have to something with children made it worse...a lot worse.
  The leader stood up on a chair and gave us our assignments. I was in a group that were assigned to be to be shoppers. Yikes! I don't shop well for myself. How was I going to be able to manage with a child? I caught C talking to the leader. She had a different assignment for us. We were going to stand by the table where the payments were being taken. We would direct the parents coming in to the correct line depending on method of payment (cash or check). Once the initial rush was over I found other things to do. I directed children to where their parents were waiting. I directed parents to a room with refreshments and chairs. Santa and Mrs. Santa were there giving out thick knitted hats. I ran clipboards and pens back to the registration table. I even talked to a couple people I didn't know.
   Once the shop had closed I found myself standing around with nothing to do. I watched groups of volunteers have their pictures taken. There were two groups of city royalty, the girls and young women that you see dressed up with tiaras on their heads and sashes across their chests. I wondered if there was a rule that they all had to wear their hair up when they wore their tiaras. I was guessing they would have been popular as shoppers for the little girls. How often do you get to shop with a princess wearing a real tiara after all?
  The leader got up on a chair again. She asked us to pose for a group picture. Then she asked a few to stay behind and move tables and chairs around for an event that would happen the next day. We stayed behind with the missionaries and got the room arranged in short order.
  C and I had decided that we were going to take the missionaries out for lunch. We took them to a local pizza place. It was a merry group. We talked and ate and got acquainted. Then we had to part company and head off to our afternoon plans.
   It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. In fact in was almost fun. I'd be willing to do it again next year. I could be one of the wrappers. (I still wouldn't want to be one of the shoppers....)