Thursday, September 22, 2005

So it's over. We leave today. When I first signed up for this I thought two weeks wouldn't be enough. And it's not enough for the clients. This is far from over and they still need help. But it's enough for me, for now. Keep in mind, it's not a standard forty hour work week. It's twelve to sixteen hour shifts of physically and emotionally draining work and there are no weekends and sometimes no gratitude. But I will do it again without question.

I have learned a lot. Some about myself, and some about Michael, and some about people in general, and some about the American Red Cross. I always thought of the Red Cross as professional diaster-fixers, poised for action at all times. But it's just people. Of course there are paid, permanent staff and there are experienced volunteers who have done this before. But really the Red Cross is people. Most of the people I met in Montgomery were volunteering for the first time. When I put on my red vest, I am the Red Cross. When you donate something, you are the Red Cross. If someone comes to me for answers and help and if I don't help them, then the Red Cross didn't help them.

Having said that, my assignment is over and my vest is off. I am not the Red Cross right now. And just as me, insert disclaimer here, I want to get some stuff off my chest: The Red Cross is not a government agency. It does not owe you anything. Your tax dollars do not fund the Red Cross. If you wonder why there is not "more," well, when you didn't donate after the earthquakes in California, or the tornadoes in the Midwest, or Sept. 11 in New York, other people wondered why there was not "more." If you think checks would be handed out faster if there were more people here to do it, well other people thought that same thing, when you didn't volunteer to go hand out checks to them. That's something I wasn't able to say to anyone I worked with, because there is no nice way to say it and because I'm sure that's not what the Red Cross would like me to say to its clients. But it's hard not to say something, sometimes, when people threaten to sue you because the facilities are not good enough.

Ok, I'm done with that. I don't want to end on a bad note. Overall, my experience has been positive. I have met some amazing people, both clients and staff. Something like this brings out all kinds of things in people, and I think it brought out good in most people I met. A random woman came up to us in Wal-Mart and asked where she could give blood. She said, "I don't have money to give, but I can give blood." And for the few for whom it brought out less than perfect qualities, well... once I quit taking everything so personally, I can't really blame them. This was almost too hard to bear. When it's not just your house, but your neighbor's house, and your church, and your kids' school, and your mother's house.... I had some bad moments myself (see above.) I hope to take what I learned from this experience and be that much better of a volunteer next time.

Michael and I exchanged information with a bunch of people, and I truly hope we keep in touch. If I gave you my e-mail it's because I really would like to see a message from you. And if I took your e-mail, well, I hope you really want to see a message from me, because it's coming if I ever get caught up on my blog.

By the way, sitting in a shelter on the gulf coast of Mississippi and watching Hurricane Rita whirl ever closer is deeply disturbing.

 

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