A Striking Discovery

I was recently reflecting on the work I'm doing here in Ocean Springs and how seemingly complicated it is, but also how much I enjoy is challenges. Every day it reminds me of stage management. (If you ask a stage manager to lock doors at 10:00 - they're locked at 10:00. I'm standing there at 9:58, and counting).

I think the work I'm doing now, training volunteers to work in the distribution center, and working with a new group of people every week is a good preparation for the Peace Corps. I need to be able to communicate effectively with all kinds of people and find tasks that fit their needs and what needs to be done. It can be hard, but it's also fun. One of the hardest things is letting the volunteers do things that I know how to do faster and more effiecently (after seven weeks) but I can't do it all, so I have to show them how to do it and then stand back and watch for ways to help them.

It can also be frustrating to have people coming up to you all the time saying "I need a job" "Tell me what to do" and you point to an area and say "Reorganize this so I can ..." and they look at you blankly and say "Tell me what to do." I guess I've always been someone who can hear "reorganize this" and then run with it, but some people just need to but q-tips in plastic bags when there's nothing else to be done.

Mostly what surprises me about the work here is that I look around and realize I've been given a lot of responsibility. I don't know if that's by design or by default, but everyone I was working with left so now I'm in charge of the distribution center. I lock up at night when I need to and I help cook for the volunteers on the weekend. I've welcomed a few groups and given them tours of the facility, sold volunteers t-shirts and answered dozens of questions. I can even speak with some presumed authority on economic situations here in Mississippi.

Basically I've made myself available and when someone asks me if I can do something I do it. If I tell someone I'll be there, I'm there. I've made myself reliable and am surprised to see how relied upon I've become. I've been given a lot of responsibility here because, strangely, I've discovered, I am responsible.

It's weird. I think, How did they know I could handle it? When I got here I was told they had plans for me because I was a long term volunteer and someone said "It's not that we don't get long-term volunteers but not all of them are responsible or sane." I thought, what have I done to lead you to believe I'm either sane or responsible other than show up when I said I was going to?

So far, to my knowledge, I've not let anyone down. It feels good.