Some Things I Dislike

With any job there are some things that you must do that you really don't enjoy doing. I can recall a few of those things that I had to endure when I was teaching - things life cafeteria duty, hall duty, supervision of study halls, and discipline. But those are now part of a "former lifetime" for me ... gone, never to return again. But there are a few things that I still must do that I really dislike. In my "community service" as judge of election of my voting precinct I must search for folks to work on my election board twice a year. It is extremely hard to find capable folks willing to do this. The hours are long (14+) and the pay isn't great. And most people have jobs or must care for their children. Fortunately, I have had a stable staff for the past few years. But now I face the task of finding one, and possibly two replacements for May. So far I have had no success and I really don't enjoy this search. But there is another responsibility that I dislike even more. In my role as Awana Commander I must make the decision to cancel Awana if the weather is bad. I really dislike this decision making. It is especially hard when the roads are wet during the day and you don't know if they'll freeze at night or when the snow hasn't yet started but they are predicting it to start later that night. Sometimes you make the decision to call it off and then it is clear and fine all evening. And then folks are upset because it has been called off. Or sometimes you don't call it off and then the weather turns bad. Then folks are upset because you "forced" them to come in bad weather. Now my decision affects the lives of about 250 people, not counting those in the youth program. I would feel terrible if somebody had an accident because of Awana being open. On the other hand, each night that you miss decreases the effectiveness of your program. And a few winters we have had to miss numerous evenings. This January we have missed twice and that has impacted our adopt-a-club project. And we still have February and March to go. At least this week the weather made the decision to cancel very easy to make. Now there is one job that I would never want to have, no matter what the salary would be, and that is superintendent of schools. They have even a tougher job when the weather gets bad because they might be responsible for 4,000 or more students and employees. And people don't realize how far in advance that this decision must be made because of how early the bus drivers must start. Some of my former superintendents used to get up and drive the roads at 4 am to help them make the decision and then things can suddenly change until the busses begin to pick up kids a few hours later. And they do hear from upset parents no matter what decision they make. But I guess superintendents and Awana Commanders are expected to endure this pressure because of the "big bucks" that we earn. Right! Now if I can just find one or two workers for my election board and if it doesn't snow anymore this year ... dream on.