I'm not really complaining about the lenient interpretations and it would probably sound less so if I weren't a little bitter about my social isolation. In fact, I rather enjoyed the community's observance efforts on Friday evening.
This year, the Packwood Presbyterian church decided to revive its annual Valentines Day dinner. Traditionally, they'd rallied kids from the high school to come serve and get community service hours for doing so. So about a month ago, I was contacted to be the liaison and make sure there were able-bodied wait-staff by the night of the event. With Lou's help, we were able to 6 of our kids to step up to the plate.
The evening started for us between 3 and 4pm. I made some last minute phone calls to remind kids and by 4:30, everyone was fed and ready to work. Fawn from Blanton's was the head honcho of all things food and treated the kids very professionally, never trying to dumb down or sweet-talk the work at hand. She'd even come prepared with catering garb, instructing each of us to don the white, button-up Chef's jackets and thoroughly emphasizing sanitary procedures. Dinner was to start at 6pm so after prepping salads and rolls, Fawn led us out to the dining area and talked us through how the serving order would go. The kids began to get anxious but excitedly so. By 5:30, guests were arriving and the kids started coming up to Lou and I, asking about taking dinner tickets, eager to serve coffee and very apparently wanting to give it their all. Many of them had never served the public like this before and weren't quite sure how to approach people. It was wonderful to watch them trail out in pairs, gradually getting more confidant as they went from table to table, asking people if they wanted regular or decaf. Behind the scenes, they would come rushing back, eagerly calling out a need for more coffee to be brewed or asking if they should start taking tickets yet.
Serving went by in a whirlwind. Out in the dining area, guests patiently waited as we tried to do one table at a time. As plates took a while to fill, I would remember to dart between assisting the kids and checking on tables for coffee, salads and empty dishes. Naturally, there was a bit of troubleshooting to be done, veering from the system when a table would clump all their tickets together so the kids didn't know their order or when someone had a request they hadn't anticipated. At one point, Calynn had complied to find out how to get hot water for a guest but by the time the water had boiled, she couldn't remember who she'd taken the cup from. She came to me in a frenzy and I got to watch her sort out her responsibility as I told her I couldn't help and that maybe she should just walk out with the cup and the visual memory would kick in. She did and it worked. She came back giddy. After all meals were out, followed by deserts, we began to clear plates and they immediately got to work in the kitchen, emptying into trash bins and stacking into different dish categories. No one even asked about food but it was eagerly welcome when Fawn finally said they should take a break and tables were set up with a feast of their own.
Before the night was over, Lou and the kids and I were called out to be praised for our work. Each one of the kids introduced themselves to the crowd, feeling a deserved job well done.
I was amazed by how much fun the kids had and how open they were to more opportunities like this. I wish there were more vocational experiences like this within school. There is so much more spark for learning when kids have to step up to the plate. Real sense of responsibility demands a presence.
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