I related this happening earlier today - and thought I'd share it here, too.
Some advance facts:
(1) My dad has a fast (and somewhat twisted) sense of humor. I still haven't met anyone who can find the funny quicker than he can, even after a stroke and a heart attack.
(2) My parents have had the same phone number for all my life.
(3) A long time ago, before Al Gore invented the Internet, people used to have to make reservations over the phone.
(4) An even longer time ago, companies would run contests to thank their customers for their patronage. This was known as "customer service". I know - hard to grasp that one, right?
(5) There was a large-vehicle rental company in town for several years who, apparently, had a phone number that was a digit away from my parents phone number.
Ok - dem's da' facts. Here we go...
Over a particular weekend, this woman kept mis-dialing while trying to rent a moving truck ... from my folks. So she'd call, Dad would answer with "hello?" She'd say "oh, this isn't WeLug?" Dad would say "no", and she'd hang up. But she'd wait like 40 minutes or more before trying again (dunno why) so Dad just started answering the phone "WeLug - how may I help you?" that weekend. Our friends were confused but just figured my Dad was pulling a joke.
So finally the phone rang, Dad answered "WeLug - how may I help you?" and the woman started to place her order, but Dad stopped her. "Wait a sec - hey Hank - is this the call? It is? Great - Madam - you're our 1,000th customer this month. You've just won an all expenses-paid week in Hawaii" and he then went into great detail about where she and her guest would be staying, which airline they'd be flying, the luau that they'd enjoy, the sites they'd see, etc. It was a thing to hear. He was REALLY selling it. At first, she was absolutely not believing it but, by the 6th minute of discussion, she was damn near packing her bag.
Finally, my dad said "so what we need for you to do is come down to our offices in the next two hours - can you do that? - and walk through the door and shout 'Aloha' as loud as you possibly can. We'll have our district manager, Frank, there to present you with a certificate and our staff photographers will be taking your photo, we'll need you to sign off on that of course. But yeah - just shout 'Aloooooooha', ok?" He got her name, and her shirt size (so they could put a Hawaiian shirt on her for their monthly newsletter, of course), and said to expect the staff to act surprised when she walked through the front doors.
I still don't know how we kept from going down there to watch this woman waltz through the doors, grinning from ear to ear and shouting "Aloooooooha"! We didn't though - watching the actual occurrence couldn't possibly have been any better than the mental image of her doing so.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
All Things Must Pass (Road)
Shame on me for not reading the HandsOn Gulf Coast Blog more frequently (it's RIGHT there ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------> after all), but “the kids” were never great about keeping it current and I just got lazy, I guess.
In any event, “Camp Cockroach”, thus named by Paula in Week #1, was shut down in November, 2008. I suspect all volunteer efforts are now completely partnered with the Hope Center … and any AmeriCorps or HandsOn volunteers (like Doug and George from Weeks #3 & #4) are likely long-term only and probably live in rented homes.
I realize that the whole idea of the Hope Center in the first place was to have one central organized place for the next massive storm recovery effort (because honestly, there WILL be "the next one"). But progress or not, it's still saddens me to read that the camp - with the temperamental sewage pipes, awful to non-existent insulation and completely uninvited bug residents (hence the well-earned nickname) - is now just another vacant building in Gulfport, MS.
I will still, however, years from now, turn onto Pass Road, drive past the "Gas-n-Go", look for the Post Office on the left-side of the road and make the sharp right turn into the driveway at 2113 (an address I know as well as my own) to show the building that housed hope, in the form of a bunch of loud, pierced, rowdy, hard-partying kids who were doing work that the rest of the nation said couldn't be done.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Let's Get Some "In The Box" Perspective
Last Thursday afternoon, I was having a conversation that included the observation that people can sometimes be cruel. From outta nowhere, the voice in my head said "uh oh. This is taking a turn towards 'bummer'. Perspective is needed."
(A side note: I am Irish, which means that a phone ringing at 9pm does NOT bring good news. However, because of my "PollyAnna-ishness", I'm more of a realist than anything else. I realize it is not my job to provide perspective when none is requested, but that was my first reaction. I'm just being honest here. So shoot me. Continuing ...)
I hadn't discussed the luncheon I'd attended a few hours earlier because I was still getting my own perspective together, to try to - just make sense of what I'd heard, I guess. So I proceeded to share the event, and I'll do so here, too. Maybe you can make sense of it with me. Maybe we can get some perspective together.
**********
The luncheon I attended was for the County Volunteers Organization. You see, every non-profit must register in the county to maintain their non-profit status. This luncheon recognizes the work of those organizations and their volunteers that make the work occur.
There were more than 800 non-profit organizations represented, each with a handful of their top volunteers. I was there not as a representative of a non-profit, but because I have worked for a company who is one of the top three supporters for the County Volunteers Organization. (Someone has to help pay for the event, after all.) The company had purchased several tables (donating the cost to help non-profits to attend without having to buy a table), as well as underwriting the cost of a few of the awards.
Part of the awards program includes having the youth volunteers present and announce the youth awards for the year. The submission process for how to get a name to be considered is that two separate volunteer organizations need to submit names ... so if Bill is a great volunteer at both the local YWCA and the Boys and Girls Club, both of those groups would collaborate on getting Bill nominated. This is done to prevent a larger non-profit from taking over all the categories and it keeps the playing field level. This year, more than 300 names were nominated in the youth category, and 5 were chosen as winners. Each winner gets $3,000 towards college expenses, a new computer, and their current schools will get a $2,000 check for supporting and encouraging the volunteer effort of said youth. The one that made me cry (and yes, I cried) was the story of the 8th grade boy who has created a program he calls "In The Box".
It works like this:
A mom shows up at a battered woman's shelter with her children. She's traumatized, scared, confused, and possibly physically hurt. Her children are traumatized, scared, confused and possibly physically hurt ... but things are gonna change because she's finally taken a step towards change. Now the good news - the REALLY good news - is that there are a bazillion professional organizations just waiting to help out in this kind of situation - donated medical care, child services, schools to welcome the kids, etc. but "In The Box" is unique and serves a specific need.
There are some specific days that are tough on shelters - charmingly, the worst seems to be Mother's Day. So if said mom shows up on Mother's day, she'll get box with pancake makings and a robe, and her kids will get a box with craft supplies so that her children can make her a Mother's Day card. If mom shows up near the start of the school year, she gets lunchbox supplies (non-perishable) and the kids each get backpacks with the basics (notebook, pencils, crayons). If mom shows up on Halloween, there's healthy snacks and "make your own costume" stuff for the kids. On Valentines Day, mom gets a picture frame and the kids get supplies for making cards.
How simple, right?
So the kid that started "In The Box" got this idea after he saw his father beat the crap outta his mother for many months on end. And she was at the luncheon - attending in a wheel chair because she can no longer walk. And her son - who was one of the 5 selected for the award - is in the 8th grade. He's been doing "In The Box" since the 5th grade. And he includes a letter with his story in every box he creates, making sure that he signs each letter. He goes to local merchants and companies and gets them to donate whatever he needs ... actually, he said he makes them donate.
And yeah, I'm gonna say it again. He stared this in grade 5. When he was somewhere around 10 years old, he saw a need after having had experienced it himself, and said "I wonder if this would help."
Now I realize "In The Box" started as his way of dealing with things, but this was what he chose to do. And now his school has made it part of their charter. "In The Box" has been built into a larger "crafts" class - so instead of him having to create all these boxes alone ('tho he admitted his younger brother helps), he has 250 assistants.
And he's a realist, too. After he was presented with his award, he admitted that he knows he isn't changing the world. That these things are still gonna happen. But - and he actually SAID this - "I don't wanna change the world. I just want to take care of neighbors. And neighbors are everywhere."
**********
So it took me a few hours to process all of that. Hell, I won't lie - I'm still processing it. I hope to be processing it for a few months.
I've been using the phrase "it takes no talent to bitch" for more than a decade now. To me, it means "don't sit there and tell me what's wrong, offer a solution of some sort". There is much wrong in the world today. A 10-year old shouldn't witness rage between his parents and yes, people can be cruel.
Maybe it's time to think "In The Box".
(A side note: I am Irish, which means that a phone ringing at 9pm does NOT bring good news. However, because of my "PollyAnna-ishness", I'm more of a realist than anything else. I realize it is not my job to provide perspective when none is requested, but that was my first reaction. I'm just being honest here. So shoot me. Continuing ...)
I hadn't discussed the luncheon I'd attended a few hours earlier because I was still getting my own perspective together, to try to - just make sense of what I'd heard, I guess. So I proceeded to share the event, and I'll do so here, too. Maybe you can make sense of it with me. Maybe we can get some perspective together.
**********
The luncheon I attended was for the County Volunteers Organization. You see, every non-profit must register in the county to maintain their non-profit status. This luncheon recognizes the work of those organizations and their volunteers that make the work occur.
There were more than 800 non-profit organizations represented, each with a handful of their top volunteers. I was there not as a representative of a non-profit, but because I have worked for a company who is one of the top three supporters for the County Volunteers Organization. (Someone has to help pay for the event, after all.) The company had purchased several tables (donating the cost to help non-profits to attend without having to buy a table), as well as underwriting the cost of a few of the awards.
Part of the awards program includes having the youth volunteers present and announce the youth awards for the year. The submission process for how to get a name to be considered is that two separate volunteer organizations need to submit names ... so if Bill is a great volunteer at both the local YWCA and the Boys and Girls Club, both of those groups would collaborate on getting Bill nominated. This is done to prevent a larger non-profit from taking over all the categories and it keeps the playing field level. This year, more than 300 names were nominated in the youth category, and 5 were chosen as winners. Each winner gets $3,000 towards college expenses, a new computer, and their current schools will get a $2,000 check for supporting and encouraging the volunteer effort of said youth. The one that made me cry (and yes, I cried) was the story of the 8th grade boy who has created a program he calls "In The Box".
It works like this:
A mom shows up at a battered woman's shelter with her children. She's traumatized, scared, confused, and possibly physically hurt. Her children are traumatized, scared, confused and possibly physically hurt ... but things are gonna change because she's finally taken a step towards change. Now the good news - the REALLY good news - is that there are a bazillion professional organizations just waiting to help out in this kind of situation - donated medical care, child services, schools to welcome the kids, etc. but "In The Box" is unique and serves a specific need.
There are some specific days that are tough on shelters - charmingly, the worst seems to be Mother's Day. So if said mom shows up on Mother's day, she'll get box with pancake makings and a robe, and her kids will get a box with craft supplies so that her children can make her a Mother's Day card. If mom shows up near the start of the school year, she gets lunchbox supplies (non-perishable) and the kids each get backpacks with the basics (notebook, pencils, crayons). If mom shows up on Halloween, there's healthy snacks and "make your own costume" stuff for the kids. On Valentines Day, mom gets a picture frame and the kids get supplies for making cards.
How simple, right?
So the kid that started "In The Box" got this idea after he saw his father beat the crap outta his mother for many months on end. And she was at the luncheon - attending in a wheel chair because she can no longer walk. And her son - who was one of the 5 selected for the award - is in the 8th grade. He's been doing "In The Box" since the 5th grade. And he includes a letter with his story in every box he creates, making sure that he signs each letter. He goes to local merchants and companies and gets them to donate whatever he needs ... actually, he said he makes them donate.
And yeah, I'm gonna say it again. He stared this in grade 5. When he was somewhere around 10 years old, he saw a need after having had experienced it himself, and said "I wonder if this would help."
Now I realize "In The Box" started as his way of dealing with things, but this was what he chose to do. And now his school has made it part of their charter. "In The Box" has been built into a larger "crafts" class - so instead of him having to create all these boxes alone ('tho he admitted his younger brother helps), he has 250 assistants.
And he's a realist, too. After he was presented with his award, he admitted that he knows he isn't changing the world. That these things are still gonna happen. But - and he actually SAID this - "I don't wanna change the world. I just want to take care of neighbors. And neighbors are everywhere."
**********
So it took me a few hours to process all of that. Hell, I won't lie - I'm still processing it. I hope to be processing it for a few months.
I've been using the phrase "it takes no talent to bitch" for more than a decade now. To me, it means "don't sit there and tell me what's wrong, offer a solution of some sort". There is much wrong in the world today. A 10-year old shouldn't witness rage between his parents and yes, people can be cruel.
Maybe it's time to think "In The Box".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)