‘ picked David up from a sleep-over this morning, took the family to breakfast and then went to sign the boys up for High Plains Little League since their Basketball season has just come to an end. We were politely greeted by the person behind the first table as we entered the registration area and were directed to progress from table to table where the boys would get fitted for shirts at one stop, meet some vendors at another, and eventually finalize registration and pay at the end. Simple enough, so Mom and I began to make the round with our two eager-to-play boys.
We no sooner get to the second table where a man walks up and asks us what we’ll be volunteering for. I open-mindedly and ready to pitch-in ask him, “Whaddaya Got?” and he starts listing them, “Coach, Asst Coach, Team Mom, etc” and in the course of the conversation informs us that “I’m not asking you to volunteer. I’m telling you. There’s none of that asking stuff.”
Well… if you don’t know anything about people handling, there’s this premise of “Push : Push Back” and what it means is, generally speaking, if I try to force something down your throat, you’re naturally going to resist – or Push Back. It’s human nature and why any good sales person, manager, etc is going to FAB you first (let you know about Features, Advantages, Benefits of buying, joining, giving, whatever) to attempt to get the best response out of you. If you give most people a reason to throw up their defenses, they will and then you might as well be talking to their hand:
- Talk to the Hand
Now anyone who knows us personally, already knows that this family is not on this earth to get as fat as we can or accumulate as many material possessions as possible before we die. That’s a shallow, empty, lifeless existence – not a deliberate, intentional life – and we have our list of charitable donations of time, effort, finances, and possessions that I don’t feel a need to list.
I write that last statement with careful forethought, since it needs to not come across as self-praise, but with humble thanks from having been able to experience both sides – that of being “in need and relying on faith alone, not knowing where our next meal was coming from” and that of having more than we could possibly use ourselves; and I think I might not be too far off-base thinking that the other gentleman’s perspective is one of “too many parents not getting involved” but his “Push” resulted in the immediate “Nope. C-ya.” from someone who was otherwise ready to jump on-board… as we moved on to the next table.
It could be the same way at your volunteer organization, or at your work. Your boss doesn’t have to “ask” you to do something. You’re there to do a job. But a manager – a real “manger” not just someone with the title – learns how to speak to you to help you do your best. They know that from a percentage point of view, if they give an employee that ol’ “Do it because I said so“, they probably won’t receive best effort.
I never would’ve thought to expect the owner of every home, business or vehicle we responded to to become a volunteer firefighter. We don’t expect every struggling person to serve at Springs Rescue Mission or Care and Share. We do what we do because we can.
If you’re good at teaching the finer nuances of a particular sport, then maybe you should consider volunteering in that venue, but not everyone who doesn’t do what you do necessarily takes you for granted. It is in the giving that we receive1 and it takes many different people doing many different things to make a community.
It seems that in the beginning, the focus of organized sports had been on sportsmanship, team-work, and doing the right thing, and – like life itself – that it’s getting more and more political as we go up in levels. I’m sure the boys will be learning some valuable lessons this season… some of them may even involve baseball. 
Give where you can if you feel inclined to do so. Be of service to others – whether you’re being paid monetarily at the time or not; but be careful, you might enjoy it.
min·is·try
n. pl. min·is·tries
- The act of serving; ministration.
- One that serves as a means; an instrumentality.
