Convoy of Something...
Sep. 23rd, 2002 12:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geminigirlI think I've finally processed all of the events of Saturday enough to actually describe them here for my beloved readers.
Begin Saturday:
Weeks ago, my team was assigned to go to a "health fair" on 9/21. No big deal-we do these events all the time; it's a good way to get community information out, to do some networking and all that. The one on Saturday took a bit more effort than most things-I spent a good deal of time on Thursday trying to track down directions to the site. Start time is scheduled for 9 AM...I live close by the site, so I offer to take the supplies and be responsible for the set up. I arrive, and am told that there's no parking by the site, that you have to park a mile away and take the shuttle back. They do allow me to unload my car and deliver my stuff first though. I go to the volunteer table, to sign in and get my nametag and they give me a card to fill out with a release on the back. A release is fine...no problem. But then I go to fill in the front...first name last name, fine. Sponsoring spouse. Um, what? A little further down...questions about what church I attend, what denomination, and who the senior minister is. Woah...back up wait a minute here. I'm not a Christian. I don't attend church. I don't have a spouse. I'm slightly peeved that I'm expected to disclose all of this information to participate in a health fair. (I did fill in Jewish where they asked for denomination.) I saw the trucks from Convoy of Hope and promptly "Acked!" it was a Christian event, which no one had warned me about. Christian sponsored events require slightly different preparation, among other things.
I run into I. while I'm filling out my card, and politely declining their newsletter, and I give him the stuff, and go to move my car. I park and catch a shuttle back to the site, and on the shuttle, I met a woman who was making polite conversation, asking what church people belonged to, what denomination and so on. I told her I didn't attend church, and that I was Jewish. She proceeded to express grave concern for my soul and how it would go to Hell. I told her that Jewish people don't believe that souls go to Hell. She was more horrified. It almost seemed like she didn't understand how people could be expected to live good lives without the fear of Hell. She said she'd pray for me. [1] I thanked her politely and tried to find my table...no one could seem to give me directions to the health fair area, which consisted mainly of very very large white ladies giving blood pressure screenings. But I did get there, after cutting through the "Family Tent" where I met a minister who told me I couldn't leave. (There was a big sign outside the tent instructing families that they must enter and leave the tent together. Our site is surrounded on three sides by preaching. It was...loud. So, IB and I begin to unpack the stuff, set up our display. I pull out the bag of condoms, and say "I'm not sure we should put these out." He decides we should put them out, but instead of on the table like we usually do, we left them in the bag, and put out only candy. And lots of brochures. We put out all the abstinence stuff we had with us, body piercing information, some things about drugs, alcohol, date rape, of course HIV and a few things about glbt stuff. We get the HIV testing stuff set up and people start to wander in. Shortly after we open, one of the supervisors in the health tent comes over and says "Oh, well you can't have condoms at this event-we only teach abstinence...this is a Christian event." We hadn't given any out...you couldn't even see them-they were in a yellow plastic bag. But we put them away. (And I've got news for you...Abstinence only education doesn't prevent HIV or adolescent pregnancy or any of that other stuff...I'm not turning this into an anti-abstinence-only rant. And I'm not anti-abstinence, I'm anti-abstinence only.)
We do test about five kids for HIV, results will be back in two weeks.
The day was relatively uneventful other than being expected to pray about Jesus Christ a few times. But that's okay.
And then there was of course, Saturday evening's events.
Saturday night was our Board of Directors Hail and Farewell potluck. I'd invited![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aquariumgirl to come along, since we were told to bring partners/spouses/significant others. (And she's certainly significant...at least IMHO.) She'd even covered for me and made an appetizer since I had to work all day. (Isn't that sweet!) So, I raced home from the health fair, to cut the veggies that I'd been asked to bring on Friday at 2:30 or so. (I got to her place and asked if I still smelled like pickles and onions.) Everything gets cut, and packed and I get dressed and go to her place to meet her. She'd called me just a few minutes before I was ready to leave to let me know that instead of going up 295, to go around the long way, past Bethesda and avoid the UMD football game. Well, the beltway was a total parking lot...I passed no fewer than three accidents. So I arrive fifteen minutes later than the appointed time, which made it a half an hour after we'd originally planned to meet. But we get the map, we pack the car and take off for the party, which is being held at the home of a board member.
Upon arrival, I discover that my glasses are missing-I'd been wearing sunglasses. This is not starting out well. We deliver the food to the kitchen, get some nametags and join the gathering. I make introductions to people I know, get introduced to board members I don't know (and some of their partners/spouses/so's, etc.) and do a lot of chatting. We're ushered outside, where we chat some more, and got into an interesting conversation with the partner of the host...we talked with him about how to introduce the person you're with, ("Boyfriend sounds so juvenille, but partner just doesn't sound right since we don't live together,") about living together, and things like that. He asked if we were planning on moving in together any time soon. "Absolutely not." (*Laugh* If only he knew...) We sat and chatted and ate with my co-workers. My co-workers think she's terrific...you should have heard the wonderful things they were saying this morning about her. My boss asked us how we met...we told her "at a wedding" and she seemed quite surprised-like, do only straight people meet each other at weddings? Then some "speechifying" and it turned out thataquariumgirl was the only person with a camera so our community relations person (pimp!) borrowed the camera to take some pictures. The evening wound down shortly after that, and we headed back to Maryland, where John was incredibly sweet and took some pictures of us (since there really aren't any!) and made us grilled cheese (he makes the best grilled cheese) and beat us soundly at Settlers of Cataan. After the game, we poked at new cellphones for me, and discussed the merits of Palm v. Handspring. (I'm considering my very first handheld and it's a tossup between the two...any opinions are welcomed. I'm leaning towards the handspring because the screen's a bit bigger...) Then home. Beta managed to get out when I was bringing my stuff in, so after a few minutes of panic and looking for him, he was recaptured. This getting out thing is a problem-he did it again today.
Sunday was preemptive fridge cleaning-prepping for travel to New York, a few errands and cooking and lots of rest. My fatigue has returned with a vengance, and I'm totally miserable. I had a couple of weeks of feeling a bit better (ten hours of sleep instead of 12 or more), and now this. And of course, now it's Monday.
[1] I wanted to make a snide remark about how well my Jew-Horns were hidden, but that would have just been too rude...although I'm not really fond of people who tell me I'm going to go to Hell because I don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and that he rose from the dead and all that stuff.
Begin Saturday:
Weeks ago, my team was assigned to go to a "health fair" on 9/21. No big deal-we do these events all the time; it's a good way to get community information out, to do some networking and all that. The one on Saturday took a bit more effort than most things-I spent a good deal of time on Thursday trying to track down directions to the site. Start time is scheduled for 9 AM...I live close by the site, so I offer to take the supplies and be responsible for the set up. I arrive, and am told that there's no parking by the site, that you have to park a mile away and take the shuttle back. They do allow me to unload my car and deliver my stuff first though. I go to the volunteer table, to sign in and get my nametag and they give me a card to fill out with a release on the back. A release is fine...no problem. But then I go to fill in the front...first name last name, fine. Sponsoring spouse. Um, what? A little further down...questions about what church I attend, what denomination, and who the senior minister is. Woah...back up wait a minute here. I'm not a Christian. I don't attend church. I don't have a spouse. I'm slightly peeved that I'm expected to disclose all of this information to participate in a health fair. (I did fill in Jewish where they asked for denomination.) I saw the trucks from Convoy of Hope and promptly "Acked!" it was a Christian event, which no one had warned me about. Christian sponsored events require slightly different preparation, among other things.
I run into I. while I'm filling out my card, and politely declining their newsletter, and I give him the stuff, and go to move my car. I park and catch a shuttle back to the site, and on the shuttle, I met a woman who was making polite conversation, asking what church people belonged to, what denomination and so on. I told her I didn't attend church, and that I was Jewish. She proceeded to express grave concern for my soul and how it would go to Hell. I told her that Jewish people don't believe that souls go to Hell. She was more horrified. It almost seemed like she didn't understand how people could be expected to live good lives without the fear of Hell. She said she'd pray for me. [1] I thanked her politely and tried to find my table...no one could seem to give me directions to the health fair area, which consisted mainly of very very large white ladies giving blood pressure screenings. But I did get there, after cutting through the "Family Tent" where I met a minister who told me I couldn't leave. (There was a big sign outside the tent instructing families that they must enter and leave the tent together. Our site is surrounded on three sides by preaching. It was...loud. So, IB and I begin to unpack the stuff, set up our display. I pull out the bag of condoms, and say "I'm not sure we should put these out." He decides we should put them out, but instead of on the table like we usually do, we left them in the bag, and put out only candy. And lots of brochures. We put out all the abstinence stuff we had with us, body piercing information, some things about drugs, alcohol, date rape, of course HIV and a few things about glbt stuff. We get the HIV testing stuff set up and people start to wander in. Shortly after we open, one of the supervisors in the health tent comes over and says "Oh, well you can't have condoms at this event-we only teach abstinence...this is a Christian event." We hadn't given any out...you couldn't even see them-they were in a yellow plastic bag. But we put them away. (And I've got news for you...Abstinence only education doesn't prevent HIV or adolescent pregnancy or any of that other stuff...I'm not turning this into an anti-abstinence-only rant. And I'm not anti-abstinence, I'm anti-abstinence only.)
We do test about five kids for HIV, results will be back in two weeks.
The day was relatively uneventful other than being expected to pray about Jesus Christ a few times. But that's okay.
And then there was of course, Saturday evening's events.
Saturday night was our Board of Directors Hail and Farewell potluck. I'd invited
aquariumgirl to come along, since we were told to bring partners/spouses/significant others. (And she's certainly significant...at least IMHO.) She'd even covered for me and made an appetizer since I had to work all day. (Isn't that sweet!) So, I raced home from the health fair, to cut the veggies that I'd been asked to bring on Friday at 2:30 or so. (I got to her place and asked if I still smelled like pickles and onions.) Everything gets cut, and packed and I get dressed and go to her place to meet her. She'd called me just a few minutes before I was ready to leave to let me know that instead of going up 295, to go around the long way, past Bethesda and avoid the UMD football game. Well, the beltway was a total parking lot...I passed no fewer than three accidents. So I arrive fifteen minutes later than the appointed time, which made it a half an hour after we'd originally planned to meet. But we get the map, we pack the car and take off for the party, which is being held at the home of a board member.Upon arrival, I discover that my glasses are missing-I'd been wearing sunglasses. This is not starting out well. We deliver the food to the kitchen, get some nametags and join the gathering. I make introductions to people I know, get introduced to board members I don't know (and some of their partners/spouses/so's, etc.) and do a lot of chatting. We're ushered outside, where we chat some more, and got into an interesting conversation with the partner of the host...we talked with him about how to introduce the person you're with, ("Boyfriend sounds so juvenille, but partner just doesn't sound right since we don't live together,") about living together, and things like that. He asked if we were planning on moving in together any time soon. "Absolutely not." (*Laugh* If only he knew...) We sat and chatted and ate with my co-workers. My co-workers think she's terrific...you should have heard the wonderful things they were saying this morning about her. My boss asked us how we met...we told her "at a wedding" and she seemed quite surprised-like, do only straight people meet each other at weddings? Then some "speechifying" and it turned out that
aquariumgirl was the only person with a camera so our community relations person (pimp!) borrowed the camera to take some pictures. The evening wound down shortly after that, and we headed back to Maryland, where John was incredibly sweet and took some pictures of us (since there really aren't any!) and made us grilled cheese (he makes the best grilled cheese) and beat us soundly at Settlers of Cataan. After the game, we poked at new cellphones for me, and discussed the merits of Palm v. Handspring. (I'm considering my very first handheld and it's a tossup between the two...any opinions are welcomed. I'm leaning towards the handspring because the screen's a bit bigger...) Then home. Beta managed to get out when I was bringing my stuff in, so after a few minutes of panic and looking for him, he was recaptured. This getting out thing is a problem-he did it again today.Sunday was preemptive fridge cleaning-prepping for travel to New York, a few errands and cooking and lots of rest. My fatigue has returned with a vengance, and I'm totally miserable. I had a couple of weeks of feeling a bit better (ten hours of sleep instead of 12 or more), and now this. And of course, now it's Monday.
[1] I wanted to make a snide remark about how well my Jew-Horns were hidden, but that would have just been too rude...although I'm not really fond of people who tell me I'm going to go to Hell because I don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and that he rose from the dead and all that stuff.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2002-09-23 11:26 am (UTC)I'm going to find you the "Non-Sequitur" cartoon about how "I'll pray for you" means "I don't know how to talk to you since you're obviously a HEATHEN and I can't win you over with my dogma" or something like that. I forget the cartoonist's exact words.
Disgusting. People like this give Christianity a bad name. Though even I, raised Christian and someone who takes a lot from that form of spirituality, often can't see much of myself in practiced "Christianity" anymore...especially when I feel like I'm aligning myself with bigots like the one you wrote about!
Sigh. :( I'll look for that cartoon later.
no subject
Date: 2002-09-23 11:37 am (UTC):-(
Date: 2002-09-23 12:03 pm (UTC)I'm really flattered that your co-workers said such nice things about me today...and blushing furiously!
Re: :-(
Date: 2002-09-23 12:45 pm (UTC)I've got a manicure tonight and I've got to make it to Springfield by 6:30 to pick up the new allergy medicine, too, so I will probably not be home until 7, at the earliest. Fortunatly, dinner is made, so all I have to do is change clothes, exercise, take care of kitties and eat before I can collapse into bed.