Volunteering

I wanted to go back to bed, but I had a date with the flu shot clinic at Paul-n-Other-Jim's high school. The call went out (or the email was mass-mailed) for volunteers to man (or woman) some stations at the H1N1 flu shot clinic at the high school. I usually don't get to sign up, but, lo and behold, I didn't have to babysit! So I signed up. I had to be there at 7:55 a.m. (normally, I'm in my robe with a bowl of oatmeal to keep me company, and Matt is puttering around the house forgetting to brush his teeth and do his cat job. I can't remember the last time I was showered, breakfasted, and ready to leave the house before 8 a.m.) I was leaving Matt to his own devices, which causes me a few moments of panic only because I still see him as "THE BABY" and babies can't take care of themselves. But he's 11 and he assured me (via the classic method of preteen communication: the eye roll) that he could take care of himself and wouldn't miss the bus.

So off I went to the high school. If I could volunteer at the high school as a career, I would do it in a heartbeat. I find the teenagers very energizing. All of the ones I dealt with today--I located and handed them their pre-filled-out immunization authorization forms--were pleasant and polite. Most smiled. Those who were fearful of vaccines in shot form were still easy to deal with. Those who weren't on the list of approved recipients of the vaccine (those whose parents had filled out a form and sent it in prior to today) didn't argue or get angry. They shrugged it off or waited patiently as the clinic supervisor or the school nurse called a parent. There was no shoving in line; the line-waiters were well-mannered and gracious to others. I was heartened by the overall behavior of the students. We hear so many bad things about youth today; it was nice to spend two hours in the company of teenagers without suffering disappointment.

My boys must have forgotten (or I neglected to tell them?) that I had filled out their forms and sent them in because they didn't come down to the clinic when their time came (the kids were called alphabetically by last name). Fortunately, I knew where Paul was and he had to pass by me to get from one class to another, so I called him over and put him in line. I had to have OJ paged over the PA system. He wasn't happy because I prevented him from taking a math quiz. Sigh. I suppose it is my job as parent to endure many instances of dissatisfaction with my fulfillment of parental duty. If the math teacher has a problem with it, he or she may call me and I'll take the blame. And if OJ is still mad at me later, I plan to placate him with the offer of an oral application of M&Ms.

Even though flu season is almost over, I accepted the offer of a free shot (who doesn't like free shots?) when the clinic was over for the students. And now my shoulder is a wee bit sore.

But I got to fraternize with teenagers and, as I said before, I enjoyed it, so the sore shoulder is a minor inconvenience.