This parking lot gig is getting to me. At least after next weekend the season will be half over! As it stands, there are still 39 regular season home games remaining on the schedule (out of 70). I don't know if I can make it.
Anyone who knows me knows I am the volunteer coordinator for our church parking lot during minor league baseball season. Somehow the owners of the parking lot where our church meets have a deal worked out with the baseball team and the church where, if we provide people to work the lot, the baseball team gives us 4 season tickets and the parking lot owners donate the proceeds back to the church. I suppose it's a good deal for all involved, and maybe if there were a better coordinator it might be worth it... but it is making me someone I don't want to be.
Oh sure, I like being able to get in free to just about any ballgame I want to. And there's a part of me that likes being "in charge" of something and giving away free tickets (or at least trying to). I don't even mind the interaction with people while working the lot... for awhile. But I think the season is just too long. Plus the various issues of dealing with volunteers, taking care of the money, record-keeping and whatnot. Not to mention having to put up with the church secretary... There simply aren't enough peanuts and cracker jacks to appease me any longer. Not when it pays absolutely nothing and the only benefit is free tickets to games I rarely attend and a 'thank you' at the end of the season.
The absolute WORST games to work are the day games where we have to KEEP people from parking there. It's an employee parking lot for a large downtown company, and none of the usual lots for evening games are available during day games. People get downright nasty when there is no parking to be found!
After this week, I've decided the second-worst games are when there is also a church event going on. Every other Tuesday the church offers a free meal to the under-served of the city. For the most part these people are all very polite and there aren't a lot of volunteers. This past Tuesday there was a homeless guy laying in the parking lot when I arrived. It was a hot day and I assumed he was just trying to find some shade. Sure enough, he was waiting for the meal. There were a number of cars that I could tell chose to park elsewhere when they caught sight of him sleeping on the premises. I didn't blame them, but I didn't feel like there was much I could do.
Last night (Wednesday) was even worse. There is a teen recovery group that rents our building, and they bring in not only a lot of teenagers, but a TON of volunteers. They don't have to pay to park in the lot, so it's somewhat of a challenge trying to figure out who is who sometimes - though most people will just say why they are there. The teens are all fairly distant and ignore me - which is fine. It's the volunteers and some of the people who bring the teens that are the worst (not all, mind you, but enough).
I understand people being a little confused at first (do they have to pay too? No) but it has always been like this. On night's there is a game, we HAVE to charge people to park there for the game, otherwise the parking lot would be completely full of stadium workers and attendees. Somehow these volunteers don't realize I am actually SAVING them a place to park - for free! So the leers, and the things people say just loud enough for me to hear... and then just the downright rudeness... I don't get that. One cheery couple, who you could tell thought they were saving the world by volunteering to help, actually moved the barricades from the other entrance so they could get in the back way. They told me they had done so, but failed to mention they'd left the barricades to the side and the entrance open!!! I wanted to smack their pretty little smiles right off their faces!
Anyway, I know I was just in a bad mood. I was tired and grumpy and can tend to overreact when I get that way. I know that most people mean well, and there were plenty of very nice ones there last night too. This entire post is somewhat of an exaggeration. Perhaps the only real truth is the level of frustration I feel and my need to step away after this season. I make matters worse due to my intensity. I am unable to roll with the punches, or go with the flow, the way most people can.
So, in the end, I know that people are not the worst (well, most of them). I also know *I* am not the worst (most of the time). But working this parking lot for this many games a year is not good for me. It's probably not good for anybody. And to think... tonight is dollar beer night!! Ugh.
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