Things I got from volunteering at the Special Olympics (in descending order from best to worst):
1. An opportunity to serve my fellowman by clapping and cheering (which is really one of the best ways to serve) and to see how that made a difference on how fast they pedaled and how it made them smile. (Well, at least a few of them smiled. Most were in the zone, and couldn’t be bothered with public acknowledgements. But, we were okay with that.)
2. A chance to get to hang out with one of my silent beehives. She was a good sport when we informed her that she would be the runner-for-help if any of the riders went down, and made her climb the chain-link fence with a pompom in her mouth for a photo op, and she didn’t seem overly embarrassed by our cheers, such as “Ride, ride. Show us your backside.” (which was later changed to “Ride, ride. Show us your best side.” due to possible sexual harassment issues.) Hopefully she had a fun time, despite being stuck with us old ladies. (Dear Rachel and Liz, I owe you, big time. You both made the day so much more enjoyable! I’m planning a “thank you” dinner. We can coordinate the best night. Love, Liz)
3. A noose of fire and halo of agony due to being in the sun for 8 hours. I coined Sunday as “The day after the Sun said ‘Hey, I’m the boss around here.’” And it’s been embarrassing going to work this week (although I’m glad I had an altruistic excuse for the burn).
Things I did not get from volunteering at the Special Olympics (in descending order from sad to really, really sad):
1. The chance to hang out with the other young women from my ward. The older girls had specific assignments (unlike ours, which was “course monitor”) and my other beehive hooked up with some of her friends and went with them for most of the day.
2. The opportunity to place the medals on the winners. (We (Rachel, Allison, and I) were asked to initially, but then we were dismissed in favor of official S.O. people. Oh well.)
3. To take home the pompom that I had been using to vigorously cheer on the cyclists. I really wanted that pompom. Using a pompom for a whole day made me come to the conclusion that we should all have one with us “at all times, and in all things, and in all places” and when we see one of our fellow humans down on his or her luck, we should whip out our pompom and start cheering.
I know that would make me feel better! “Go, Liz, go! Forget about your fro!”
4 comments:
I'm so glad you posted today--I really missed your entries!!! I just laughed out loud, which I hate doing because there are offices that come off mine, and they can hear and see me...and I feel a little foolish. But I just couldn't hold it back!
And I agree that everyone should have a pompom--I'm just trying to figure out what my cheer would be...
Yay for the return of Liz!!
"Blog Liz! Blog! Save us from our fog!"
And I get a dinner with two of my favorites to top it off. Can it get better? I don't think so. I was a cherry ringed retard on Sunday too. Feeling the mortality I was.
Oh, I've been slightly depressed over that pom-pom. But your "forget about your fro" cheer made me laugh out loud. That was a fun day. Thanks for inviting me!
And, I don't mean to rub it in, because I know better than most about sunburns, but I'm pretty please that for the first time in my life I didn't get a single random red spot. This is what comes from finally learning that it takes a head to toe soak in SPF 45, and frequent re-applications.
And...I've tagged you. Read my blog for more info.
Question #1: Why didn't they let you keep the pom pom?
Question #2: Why didn't you just take it home and assume they wanted you to have it?
That would be the saddest thing for me. I get really attached to things like that. For example, my glitter microphone. I had misplaced it since moving from CA and have thought about it weekly. I finally found it this week!!! The JOY!
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