Volunteering & Volunteer Students

OK, before I write anything I just have to say that I don't think I'm going to comment on blog entries anymore, unless it's a really short comment, because usually I have something lengthy to say about what you wrote. So I will probably just respond to your entries through my entries.

I am so sorry about what happened with your mother. And yes, I have had times when I thought about the possibility of divorce, especially last week (long story, might post it later). The thing is, when adults do things that aren't characteristically "mature," as in when they cry or break down or don't act their age, it kind of scares us, because we're kids and we depend on them to be stronger than us. I guess it's an over-expectation, because a lot of the time I think adulthood just hits you in the face. Think about it. You turn 26, or 28 or 31, you get married, you pop out a baby and BAM! There goes your carefree days. Now you have to do what's "right" because otherwise you'll be a developmentally challenged freak. Although this doesn't necessarily pertain to your mother exactly, I've been thinking about this a lot lately.

And you're right. The pool party was a flop, maybe more of a flop than I had imagined, even though I didn't really raise my hopes for it or anything. I can't believe only about 30 people showed up! When Jordan and I were giving out raffle tickets at the door (guess with who?--Samantha!), a particular group of people walked in. I recognized them from Capo; they were the kind of supercilious (haha), condescending people who have inflated egos and a distorted perception of themselves, usually more positive than what other people see them as. Anyway, as they walked by, one of them was like "That's the party!?" which I have to admit was annoying, but it was the truth! There was barely anyone there.

I guess the only person who was really mad about the turnout at the party was Samantha, of all people. I had to hang out with her at the door when we were doing raffle tickets because she would not go away. As Jordan and I were walking to the gate, she caught up with us and was like, "Hey, Tammy said I could help you." We said, "Um ... we're good, we don't need any help," but she kept repeating the same thing over and over, until we finally got tired and just let her be with us. As people walked by, she kept doing the most embarrassing things, like jumping up too early and asking people who had already entered for their IDs (a job we assigned to her, to her utmost delight). After about 15 minutes, nobody was coming anymore, so Jordan and I sat back and started talking. We were talking about the music playing overhead on a small speaker next to the bathrooms, and Samantha started blathering on about Green Day and how it had fizzed out (thank you, Ms. State the Obvious). Then all of a sudden she said in the kind of voice people use when they think they have really good gossip, "Do you guys know why Green Day's not popular anymore?" and Jordan and I looked at each other, like, Why does she think we would care? And Sam was like, "Because the lead singer's gay." Which is totally irrelevant to their lack of success anyway. I think their lead singer is bi, but who cares, he has a wife. Then we were just like, OK ... even though we really just wanted to roll our eyes. Then Sterling Heart's lead singer's mom came along with her little sister, who I think Tammy said has Down Syndrome. Jordan and I smiled at them and offered them tickets and they went along their way, and then Samantha turned to us and was like, "What's wrong with her?" and I was like, "Oh, she has Down Syndrome." To which she gave a totally disgusted look and was like, "What's that?" in the most grossed out voice you can imagine. I wanted to slap her. I said very slowly, as if I was speaking to an idiot, "It's ... a ... genetic ... disorder." And she was like, "Oh."

I have to say that Samantha is way more immature than any other ten-year-old I have ever met. Every time somebody we didn't know walked by and we said hi to them, she asked us why we were doing that. Um, what the hell? This sounds mean, but I would explode if she was in COC. This is what I felt like doing at the end of the night: AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I feel weird about the whole pool party. And Tammy said we're going to do it again next year, only have our flyers out before school ends. I don't know if that's going to make the turnout any bigger.

Sigh. It's Saturday, the first free day I have had since ... well, it seems like forever. I really want to watch a movie or go shopping--mostly the latter, since I haven't gone shopping in a really long time and I have basically nothing to wear. I'll update later if I have time.