It
seems that in today’s fast-paced world, we must find time for work, play,
family, friends, alone time and giving back.
This balancing act is tricky. Routine
sucks us in and as creatures of habit, we tend to favor some over others. I dwell in the hygiene sector: both my
apartment’s grooming and personal hygiene
help me achieve a zen-like wellbeing. I recognize this as a tad obsessive, but,
I chalk it up to having grown up Cuban.
It is a well-known fact that extreme cleanliness is a trait that unites all
Cubans : communists and non-communists.
In an
attempt to round out and give back I decided to volunteer. At first, I searched for local opportunities
in Jersey City, the hipster haven where I reside. Two interesting options turned up: the first
involved teaching adults to read out of the main branch of the JC Public
Library . The second involved helping out at the Historic Jersey City Harsimus
Cemetery on Saturdays. I called and/or
emailed both.
The
Jersey City Public Library may have good intentions, but, no follow through or
lack of personnel as no one ever replied.
The
Cemetery did follow up. A lovely lady expressed her excitement in an email and
said to come down on any Saturday I
wanted. The first Saturday I had
available a monsoon rain washed away all my good intentions.
Then
along came my longtime friend and colleague,
“Eva”. “Eva” helps everyone and everything and forgets to help herself
along the way, but, that’s another story.
“Eva”
told me about Learning Ally. Learning
Ally was launched out of the New York Public Library’s basement back in the
late 40’s and 50’s when GI’s were returning from WWII. Many of them, blinded
from war injuries, could no longer read books, so an audiobook effort was started. Learning Ally is staffed mainly by volunteers
who read, direct, record, check the quality of the recordings and content for
final submission to its headquarters in Princeton. Learning Ally is a national
organization. The location we attended is centrally located on East 45th Street
near Grand Central Station.
“Eva’s”
interest in Learning Ally, aside from volunteering, stemmed from wanting to
improve her diction. I have a similar
interest and so off we went for a learning tour. On the tour, “Tom” showed us the studios, reception
and lounge areas and explained how the volunteering was structured. Active volunteers are required to volunteer 2
hours weekly. Prior to working on your own you train for a total of 6 sessions
of 2 hours each. The sessions are
readily available during the week and on Saturdays.
The Tuesday after the blizzard of 2015,
suffering from extreme cabin fever,
I
decided to hit the volunteering slopes, so I signed up for back to back
sessions on a weekday: 3:30PM
to 5:30PM and 5:30 to 7PM.
I
arrived promptly @3:30 and “Tom” led me
to a booth to show me a short video on how their proprietary program for
recording works. Anyone with basic
knowledge of a PC can use it. Shortly
after the video, “Tom” had me “direct”
one of the other volunteers who was reading a textbook on public speaking. So,
while “Mike” waxed and waned about Socrates and other Greek orators etc., I did
basic operations, such as record, mark the track for new pages and headings as
well direct his reading. This was fun, so much so, that “Tom” came over and
told me to keep it down. Only the voice
over booth is sound proof, so the director needs to be contained in his
approach. I guess I’m a method director
or maybe just a loud Cuban. The 2 hours came and went super fast.
At
5:30PM there were no other volunteers, recording, so “Tom” set me up doing quality control on already
recorded material. This is also
elementary: you listen to a recording and make notes on where mistakes are made. This part of the process was not as
interesting, perhaps, it was the tone of the reader’s voice, which made the
dense topic denser and harder to appreciate. I still persevered and combed
through as much material as possible noting flubs, etc.
After
giving back in such a fun way, I planned to go back last week, but bad weather
and life’s obligations got in the way.
Truancy
aside, I liked volunteering. It felt
good “to do” without legal tender being exchanged. I just need to keep the
proverbial momentum rolling…before…oh no…another load of laundry….
