My Addled Brain

Currently playing: 9/11

For those of you who don’t know me (and for many of you who do), allow me to explain something about myself. I am, by my nature, somewhat of a giving person. However, I tend to give more than I take in relationships, be they friends, family, or romantic. This has led me into some rather, well, unpleasant situations in my life, but I always chalk them up to helping out those that I love. But I’m really not one to donate my time to complete strangers. I can’t quite explain this; I suppose it could be chalked up to the innate shyness I feel and deal with every single day of my life (a fight I seem to be losing these days). So when Miah (Major Cool Guy’s wife) asked me if I’d like to join them volunteer for the Hillsborough County Special Olympics area competition, my first reaction was, honestly, "no". Why would I want to volunteer my time to anything? Aren’t I more important than that? Then, I took a moment an analyze what I have to do that Saturday: play EQ.

I said yes. So I went to the USF soccer field, and helped out by running the souvenir stand, along with Major Cool Guy, Miah, and a gentleman named Erik. Most of the volunteers were there to be a "buddy" to the athletes, where they escort them to their specific events, and to the little olympic village, where they could eat, play games, or sit and talk with their friends or, just as likely, complete strangers. However, by the time we got to the field to meet up with an athlete, all the athletes had been claimed by a volunteer. That’s right, there were more volunteers than athletes. So, we were given a choice: we could either double-buddy with an athlete (while quite possibly amusing, more than likely a waste of my time) or help in the village. Which is why I ended up pimping the Special Olympics goods. And pimp them I did. I’m pretty sure that Lori (or Laurie, didn’t catch the spelling), the Event Coordinator, didn’t expect us to sell all the T-shirts, golf bags, and tote bags - but we did. We sold about $900 worth of goods in fact. I also got to meet a lot of very interesting people, and spoke with quite a few of the athletes as well. And the thing that surprised me most about the events: a lot of the competetors were old. For example, a quite lively woman, who came in first place in two cycling events (and was very, very enthusiastic about showing us her medals), looked to be late 40’s to early 50’s. But more surprising than that: she wanted to get some pens (only 2 for $1! Get yours today!), but she needed to ask her mommy. And she did. I think mom was pushing 70, but she greeted us with a smile, and promptly bought two pens for her daughter.

For those of you who choose to laugh when I call these people athletes, I have this to say. If the definition of an athlete is a person who puts everything they have into physical competition (and that sure sounds about right to me), then these people are, without a doubt, athletes. And they’re not high dollar athletes (obviously), not there to stroke their gigantic egos or prove that they are better than everyone else. They genuinely love being able to do this. And I find myself a bit envious of this childlike innocence.