04.12.08
Hours
I don’t say enough about it, but I volunteer every Saturday morning, from 6:30-11:30. It’s not as labour-intensive as something like Habitat for Humanity or cleaning up a park, but it’s still better than nothing. In fact, anyone could do it — and if you look at it like that, there’s really no reason why we should always be short on volunteers. I’m at the crisis line, answering calls from people with messed-up lives, and, even though it’s a hassle-and-a-half sometimes, it’s something that I can be proud of. Sure, I sometimes go 4 hours and only pick up the phone 6 times. Sure, I spend more time at the work station reading manga/sporting news and playing DS than I do on the phones. But, if someone calls in with a problem, I’m the only one there for them, and that’s something.
For a guy who wakes up most days at around 10 AM, it isn’t easy getting up at 6 AM once a week to get ready. And it certainly isn’t fun to listen to people’s problems and show them empathy while helping them arrive at a solution (without giving advice, no less), but I daresay I have nothing better to do on Saturday mornings. What’s more, being in a quiet place for 4 hours is actually pretty relaxing. I won’t fool around with you though. Am I here to change the world, making one difference at a time? No. I’m not awesome like that. I’m here because it’s right. I’m here because it’s good. Even though I’m not a righteous person or even a good one, the idea of giving up your time for others is something that I believe in.
So why don’t more people volunteer their time to do stuff for other people? It’s the same excuse that people give for not exercising, for not talking to the people they care about, and for not trying hard to do things that they claim to be interested in.
Yeah, we’re all busy, all the time. Busy lying to ourselves.