We went back for round two of volunteering at the service workers' bazaar this morning. This time our task was to arrange items in the category-sorted bins (last weekend's task) onto tables for people to shop from. Clothes were sorted out by size and gender, our family did a lot of toy and book sorting (which was somewhat difficult for some of our children, who are, by this point in time, feeling a little thirsty for toys themselves—we haven't had "stuff" for months now), and there were also kitchen supplies, linens, office supplies, and so forth.
It was a lot of work to get everything set out but, again, many hands make light work and we were finished before the bazaar began. We only signed up for an hour, but we ended up staying a while longer so we could help "man" the stations while people were shopping for things (rearranging items to keep the tables organized and help people find items).
The service workers were lined up like it was a Black Friday event, waiting for the countdown to when they would be allowed through—and there was an official countdown!—and then they rushed upon the tables with quite a lot of excitement.
It was wonderful to witness, honestly, though I was a little concerned that a little tussle over a suitcase was going to turn ugly (though they seemed to work things out). I was so happy watching the stuffed animals get snatched up, knowing they'll make some children very happy.
It was interesting to be there not to shop.
Trading tables used to be my lifeline—I organized an event every few months when we lived in Durham (that's where we picked up Baby Dora years and years ago...she's with us here in Doha!), and went to BYU's trading table events when we lived in Utah. These events were literally where I did the bulk of our Christmas shopping and clothes shopping and...every kind of shopping...while we were in our penny-pinching years (which seemed to last for quite a few years—shout out to grad school).
Our stake in Georgia organized an annual event like this for the community, and while I wasn't in such desperate need of free shopping when we lived in Georgia, I did like searching for a few new-to-me items while volunteering (to be fair, I also lived for the Buy Nothing Group in Georgia). A good deal is hard to pass up!
Today, however, was a strictly "no shopping" day. I did enjoy getting to watch others shop, though, because I know that there is such a disparity of pay between service workers and professors on campus and I know how much it means to have the freedom to just shop, to look over items and choose what to take. I felt like trading tables gave me quite a bit of "control" in my life and I was so happy to see that same kind of ease creep into people's faces as they shopped. They could be frivolous, they could be indulgent, they could say "why not".
I watched a man rifle through a pile of stuffed animals and pull out a big panda bear and a little panda bear and place them in his bag. His child is going to love those.
Perhaps he gave them to his child immediately upon coming home. Perhaps he hid them away in his closet for a special gift-giving holiday or an upcoming birthday celebration. Who knows? It doesn't even matter because I know what that moment feels like—when you find the perfect gift for your child (who you feel like you can't give very much to) and it's 100% free so you can finally say yes instead of no.
I'm sure we'll be back to volunteer at future bazaars!
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