I guess you can categorize me as an extrovert who is shy. I was so shy most of my life that I didn’t speak up for myself. I went along with things that didn’t really bother me because why fight? My parents never fought, they just divorced after 35 years.
The jobs were great, little pay and much responsibility. I didn’t get it, though. I got the brainiac parts of learning minutia and knowing your stuff, not really knowing why I was there. Forget my first job, the first real one I was paid as an analyst but expected to be a politician and hack and work for others for free. The second I was supposed to be a lobbyist but was a computer clerk, writer, public speaker and stooge for a wanna-be player. I didn’t “get” the politics of either.
After giving up the rat race I put myself through cooking school then looked for work. That in hand I looked for volunteer opportunities and ended up making Volunteer my middle name. I started small, at an animal shelter and ended up running 40 volunteers at annual event. Then I started my own division in a volunteer organization and was running 14 projects a month and attending at least five.
Texas Gal?
One of the first “graduates” of the joint Humane Society/Red Cross emergency courses, I found a mission. Yes, I was helping to spay/neuter thousands of feral cats but that was only cat and volunteer management. I needed to use my brain. I went to a seminar and it changed my life. I met a woman and we went to a meeting and things progressed from there. Of course as any movement goes, there are a lot of people at the beginning and few, years later, at the end. Not to say the mission is ended, it’s just been taken over by other local, younger folks.
The few are still friends with each other, and with me though I live far away. Two members came by last year for lunch. We all keep in touch. You ask what was our inspiration. It’s our dogs. They inspired us to try to find ways to share the public parks we pay for, in order for dog owners to be able to have leash-free activity. We didn’t know it would be such an incendiary topic and I never expected to spend years on it. I did learn more and always want to do more for our parks in every way so was asked to serve on a citywide body to endeavor to do that.
Casey, Hilde, Chani, and River are only a few of the dogs who have died awaiting a park that legally allowed them to chase a ball or disc off-leash with owner supervision. We’re still here. Our original inspiration is gone. I treasure the friends met and kept through this grueling process dictated by the Parks and the City. I’d like to say I live in a dog-friendlier city but one park is all mud (read “The Ditch” in PB) and another has yet to be tried. Meantime we walk the trails.
Our dogs started this, but it wouldn’t have continued without the people. We did not get along in deliberations but went into negotiations as a united front and made our case. Ask my team-mates but they probably won’t say I’m shy. The liberal nature of our friendships has allowed me to voice my opinions at the polls and in many other matters that occur from time to time. No more multi-year commitments, but all is well and I can thank my battling friends for that. You know who you are and of course your dogs love you, but I do, too. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 