Sometimes my drive to DO GOOD, turns into a nasty experience of DOING NOTHING.
Why do I feel the need to sign up to do something or say yes to something I know darn well I have no talent or interest in doing???
Does anyone else have this problem?
Today, I went into Des Moines to volunteer with some co-workers at the Habitat for Humanity project. At first, I thought to myself when saying yes to this event, "Sara, you can do that. You used to help your dad around the house." But my optimism soon transformed itself into low-handyman self-esteem as I helped unload the buckets and buckets of tools.
There were so many red flags that this volunteer experience was not for me. First, the tools that I was unloading were completely alien to me. They were all so sharp and electric. Which made way for another reason I should have stayed in bed. I have a fear of tools. I am not kidding. I even fear the hammer, or more importantly when anyone other than myself is wielding a hammer. What if they don't see me and I get those two teeth in my head. You never know! The final nail in my handyman coffin (get it, nail!), was when the leader of this project began instructing the group on their tasks. It was as if she was speaking a FOREIGN LANGUAGE! I had no idea what a trellis is!
I could go on and on about my misadventures being less than handy, like how before I even hammered one nail, I was stabbed with my own nail in the thigh. Or, how we were worked side by side with women from a local correctional facility and they were forced to wear name tags that said "Violator" with their pictures and names written underneath it. My "violator's" name was Shelby and Shelby liked to tell me about "her man" and whenever Shelby mismeasured something she'd say, "Well, Sara, you have to be precise. Now we have to do it over. Go get that two by four." I was not going to argue with Shelby even though I had yet to be trusted with the tape measure.
I did a lot of standing around today for the simple reason that I am not a handy person and I know that now. I should have known better.
2 comments:
As much as I'd love to volunteer my time for a project like Habitat, I think I'd wind up doing more damage than good. I'm useless with most tools.
It's the class of 1995 reader again...I was laughing out loud reading this post. I was picturing you shingling a roof next to a convicted criminal and with one wrong word you could be thrown to the ground. I hope these people weren't hard core criminals.
I have done Habitat before and it is so great. It is really neat when you see the family move into the house. It feels like a small episode of Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
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