General Etiquette > All In A Day's Work

Christian Service rant!

(1/7) > >>

Cyndi:
I dunno if volunteer work counts as work, so if it doesn't please move this to the correct folder.

My mom volunteers for Christian Service. She fixes homeless lunches, does all the shopping for the poor family groceries, lugs heavy boxes she really shouldn't be lifting around and gives as much time as humanly possible to the head of this service, who I'll call MA.

MA has a toxic son, an athiest DIL and a spoiled rotten grandson who happens to have autism like me. MA's toxic family lives with her and her house is always a cesspool because she is rather frail and can't handle cleaning up(my mom has cleaned her house for her and in an hour it looks like nobody touched it!). MA's daughter is always working, so the grandson is left to run around crazy in the house. I've never seen the toxic son, but he's a total loser from what I've heard and he's basically ruined MA's life.

Well, MA doesn't seem to realize my mom has other obligations around Christmastime. She doesn't have to go home and cook dinner for her family. Volunteers join CS and then drop out because MA runs them into the ground. At Christmas there's Adop a Family, a Children's Christmas Party, two Christmas Boutiques and then a children's Christmas Boutique. It used to be MA did this all on one weekend. This year she decided to spread it out over the whole month, basically destroying any plans anybody might have made, so people either had to cancel vacations or go anyway, leaving MA with almost NO HELP besides mom and maybe three other people.

My mom bakes cookies for Christmas every year and gives them out. She sends many platters to church, one to my choir, some to the neighbors, tons to the people where dad works...even our hairdresser gets a plate of cookies!

Today, my mom told me that MA said, "I don't know why you waste your time baking those stupid cookies. It's not like anybody here likes them or wants any."

My mom let this roll off her back. MA just wants her to give up her baking time to do Adopt A Family, which my mom has refused. My mom has probably given more time than any of the other volunteers. She took a year off when she had her lumpectomy, and even then MA kept calling and harassing her to come back. Then when MA had to have surgery on her lung, she was back as soon as she could get up and walk and I heard her comment that my mom was being a wimp!!!!!!! for taking a year off when it only takes six weeks to really heal.

MA has on more than one occasion taken advantage of my mom's giving spirit. I had to hound my mom to skip out on at least one event so she can rest and bake. She has maybe four days of nonstop baking to do if she wants to have cookies ready for my dad to take them to work. She usually has three weeks to do it at leisure, but thanks to MA's faulty planning my mom now has to cram all this baking into a few days. I can tell she's exhausted and running on fumes. By Christmas I'm worried she'll be burnt out and unable to enjoy anything.

But hearing that MA put down my mom's wonderful baking as a ploy to make her work more just pissed me off. MA just does NOT REALIZE that many of her volunteers have lives to go home to and she gets mad that nobody wants to work with her around the holidays. Easter and Christmas are always a nightmare because she changes things or sets up Christian Service events in a way that makes it impossible for anybody to give up time to come help.

MA is a nice lady, I like her, but I think I've lost some respect for her after this. Especially since she insulted my mom and made her feel like crap for backing away  and focusing on her own family.

:-\

jfulle5:
humm doesnt seem very "christian" like to treat people like that. I thought the whole thing was about good will and helping others but first you have to help your self. Has anyone tried talking to MA?  I hate it when "volunteer" jobs turn into the biggest time eaters... kind of defeats the point.

Alida:

--- Quote from: Cyndi on December 15, 2006, 01:00:10 AM ---MA is a nice lady, I like her, but I think I've lost some respect for her after this. Especially since she insulted my mom and made her feel like crap for backing away  and focusing on her own family.
--- End quote ---

MA is not a nice lady, not if she runs people into the ground and is insulting your mother!  That's just amazingly rude and ill-mannered.

MA is going to find herself alone trying to do all this and it's a shame, because it sounds as if others benefit from the programs.

Cyndi:
Mondrian - People have tried, and then they drop out when they realize MA is going to work them to death. Usually people who are new and who don't realize how much time they'll need to "donate". MA constantly takes advantage of my mom's hating to say "no". She's gone in sick with the flu and she was even working when a shingles infection had her in so much pain she would come home and cry...and my mom is not a woman who dissolves to tears easily.(MA would tell her "Suck it up, it can't be THAT bad!")


EDIT: Forgot to mention - my mom goes in because she's afraid that if she doesn't, nobody else will and she does it for the benefit of the people she helps, not MA, though she's helped MA through personal issues with little thanks. I think with all the years my mom HAS put in to CS, she should start getting paid for her time.

MadMadge43:
It is a volunteer organization that is being run by a controll freak. Volunteers work because of the desire to help and the recongnition they receive. Not because they are forced into it. You mom might want to see if she can volunteer someplace else.

But the main reason I'm writing, is that little thing you have walking across your thread. Makes me think I have a bug on my computer screen everytime and I start to jump!  It's actually kind of funny! Thought you'd get a laugh.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page