I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – working with a bunch of passionate volunteers is one of the best days out a girl can be lucky enough to enjoy.
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Along with 55 of the finest quality people I have ever had the pleasure to meet, I revelled in the opportunity to help run the gates at the Wimmera Machinery Field Days last week.
No matter the size of the crowd in front of them, the complete lack of $1 coins in the till, or the screaming pink line of ink on the nearly empty roll of paper in the EFTPOS machine, our team of Operation 19:14 volunteers kept on smiling throughout the day.
Well, sometimes they were forced to allow a rather quizzical look to make a brief appearance on their sunny visages – but you get the picture.
As you can imagine, there were some incredible and puzzling problems.
It is almost beyond belief how many people left their tickets behind them in their car, in their motel room, or in a whole other state!
I myself was told a very convincing story about one person sort of replacing the other person mid-morning and therefore making it necessary for the purchase of only one ticket.
Somehow, in the back of my mind, I just knew that if everyone shared a ticket, the whole ticket selling business would become completely unmanageable.
But the story was so logically convincing that I was utterly sold.
So much so that I even gave the lady a ride to her destination on the passenger seat of my gopher.
I am still shaking my head in wonder at my gullibility.
Although, when I shake my head too fast, my ears hurt from the sunburn, so I have to be careful.
Making change from a $50 note can be challenging if your caffeine levels are lagging.
So I did my level best to remain completely caffeinated and cognisant of all other gatekeeping issues, such as lost keys, lost phones and lost cars (it does happen).
Even if I made a selection of doubtful decisions throughout my tenure as gatekeeping go-getter, I hope that the majority of our clients left their ticket booth experience not only a little lighter in the wallet department, but a little lighter in spirit too.
I know I did.
YOLANDE GROSSER