I'm a horrible person when it comes to leadership, judging by the number of pit crew who showed up to help out tonight.
Band practice starts promptly at 6:30, which means that I generally want to be at the school by 5:30 to start setting things up. Tonight was a bit of a special case since they were going to be practicing down on the field instead of on the parking lot where we usually practice during the week -- which means my team and I need to get all the carts out so they can be loaded, and we need to get the podiums set up down on the field. Lots of things to do.
But when I got there at 5:30, there was no one there. Except the drum majors and some sax players who were doing a sectional. Some of them helped me load up the podiums and I drove them to the field, and then the drum majors set them up for me while I headed back to the parking lot to help set up the front line carts. By the time I got there, one of my team had arrived, but he was eating his dinner (in his car), so I continued to set up on my own until he finished and was able to help me.
We finished getting all the carts lined up and then the kids loaded all the front-line instruments and we headed down to the field just in time for the start of practice.
Somewhere around 8 pm, another pit crew member showed up, but there was nothing to do until the end of practice, so we sat in the stands and watched the band play -- and get yelled at by the directors -- until it was (finally) time to wrap things up and put all the toys away.
Now the second person really came in handy because there were two tractors to drive so I let the two guys drive the instruments back to the parking lot so they could be unloaded into the trailer while I worked with the drum majors to pack up the podiums and the yard markers and all the other paraphernalia so it could be put away, too. After all that stuff was put away, I had to go around and make sure all the gates were locked and the bathrooms were closed. And while I was in the middle of that, the lights went out (because running the stadium lights costs serious money, and we don't want to waste it now, do we?) so I had to close gates and bathrooms in near-darkness.
Back in the parking lot, after the kids had unloaded all the instruments, we put away all the carts and the safety cones and everything else that could possibly be stashed into our trailers, then said good-night and headed home.
All three of us.
If this were a real game or a competition, we'd be in serious trouble.
Why is it that I can't motivate people to show up?
Band practice starts promptly at 6:30, which means that I generally want to be at the school by 5:30 to start setting things up. Tonight was a bit of a special case since they were going to be practicing down on the field instead of on the parking lot where we usually practice during the week -- which means my team and I need to get all the carts out so they can be loaded, and we need to get the podiums set up down on the field. Lots of things to do.
But when I got there at 5:30, there was no one there. Except the drum majors and some sax players who were doing a sectional. Some of them helped me load up the podiums and I drove them to the field, and then the drum majors set them up for me while I headed back to the parking lot to help set up the front line carts. By the time I got there, one of my team had arrived, but he was eating his dinner (in his car), so I continued to set up on my own until he finished and was able to help me.
We finished getting all the carts lined up and then the kids loaded all the front-line instruments and we headed down to the field just in time for the start of practice.
Somewhere around 8 pm, another pit crew member showed up, but there was nothing to do until the end of practice, so we sat in the stands and watched the band play -- and get yelled at by the directors -- until it was (finally) time to wrap things up and put all the toys away.
Now the second person really came in handy because there were two tractors to drive so I let the two guys drive the instruments back to the parking lot so they could be unloaded into the trailer while I worked with the drum majors to pack up the podiums and the yard markers and all the other paraphernalia so it could be put away, too. After all that stuff was put away, I had to go around and make sure all the gates were locked and the bathrooms were closed. And while I was in the middle of that, the lights went out (because running the stadium lights costs serious money, and we don't want to waste it now, do we?) so I had to close gates and bathrooms in near-darkness.
Back in the parking lot, after the kids had unloaded all the instruments, we put away all the carts and the safety cones and everything else that could possibly be stashed into our trailers, then said good-night and headed home.
All three of us.
If this were a real game or a competition, we'd be in serious trouble.
Why is it that I can't motivate people to show up?
2 comments:
Sorry you have to deal with that! Be nice if you could put consequences in place. But, oh well, the show much go on!
I don't like to complain but ... well, actually, I love to complain! It helps me vent without getting all angry and steamed up about stupid things like this, taking it out on my family or driving badly due to emotional distress. I wish I could administer some consequences, but I'm only a month away from being complete DONE with it all, and handing the keys to the trailer over to one of the freshman parent volunteers, and then I can relax and never have to worry about it ever again! Because Mary isn't in band, and once Deb has graduated, we'll be focusing on Mary's school activities. Which probably means theater, since that's her gig. She got a part in the fall play, doncha know! Well, actually, that should be another post, I suppose.
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