When Words Collide, Sentences Form

No bottled water at the Red Cross

Tonight I went through the first step in the certification/training process to join the volunteer Disaster Action Team at the local Red Cross chapter. For those of you that are surprised by this...don't be! I have wanted to do something like this for a while, and just have never had the time to go through the training or do the actual volunteering. So when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped on it.

But I'm not here to talk about doing good things for the community or saving lives or anything...I'm here to talk about how no matter what you are doing, there are the funny (and some people will think that I am sick for finding one of these things funny) aspects to every serious situation. Here is a run-down of my observations in a simple 2 hour Red Cross orientation class:

* No matter whether there are only 5 people or more than 50 people in a room for any kind of class or presentation, if those people are allowed to speak in an open forum setting, there is always that 1 person that you want to tell to shut up. You know the one I'm talking about - and some of you may be that person! The one who asks stupid questions (and that stuff about there being no such thing as a stupid question is CRAP), asks questions that have NOTHING to do with the topic at hand, just says stuff to show that they think they are smart or just basically wants to hear themselves talk. Some day, in one of these classes, I may just tell "that person" that they are stupid and to shut up. I bet I get a standing ovation!

* All presentations come equipped with a lame evaluation form. Tonight, for the first time ever, I felt compelled to be honest in the "What was the part you liked the least?" space. I actually said, "I didn't like the participants that asked questions that had absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand." Not that they can control that, but I guess I was just feeling honest!

* And here's the "sick" observation I made...they had beverages for us in a cooler because, of course, we can't make it through sitting in a room watching videos and listening to some guy talk for 2 hours without getting dehydrated. But here's what I found hysterical, and I didn't have the guts to crack this joke to anyone in the room...they only provided us with soda. I'm guessing that relief organizations helping with Hurricane Katrina relief sent all of their bottled water to the Gulf Coast?? Maybe that's not funny to anyone else, but I really just figured there would be bottled water in that cooler!

Ok, enough with the silly observations. I'm going to get a glass of wine. Not because I'm an alcoholic, just because I'm out of Coke and water. Gosh, I'm funny.

posted by Steph @ 10:07 PM