I am participating in the 31 Days of Free Writes October challenge. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation.
Today’s prompt: Follow
When we have gotten used to things being a certain way, then a change is announced, it can be challenging to accept that change, embrace the positive benefits that might result and follow the path to implementing it.
I was talking last night with my friend Randy, who has been the director of the phone counseling hotline that I used to volunteer/work for (in the late 80s) for more than 25 years.
We were talking about ALL the changes — the many information-handling pieces that were strictly paper-based back then that are now handled by computer, the operational revisions, the way staffing and volunteer management has evolved.
I had been at the hotline when we first took on the contract for the Florida AIDS Hotline (again, late 80s). Because I was a compensated backup supervisor, I had to get trained on that hotline and work it. He and I discussed the fact that some volunteers didn’t agree with us taking on the AIDS Hotline (again, late 80s) and left the agency.
I commented that my personal views, and my path to becoming a more committed ally for LGBT individuals was BECAUSE I had to follow instructions and get trained on that hotline.
It turns out that although we should never fail to think critically about the choices ahead of us, *sometimes* following an organizational change is exactly what we need.
Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.
So true!
Thanks, Tara — that conversation with Randy (the former director) was such a good one.