traffic cop & shepherdess, college counselor & athlete, daughter/sister & friend?

Basically, I've been wearing a lot of different hats lately. In fact, my fear is that I have not worn any of them terribly well because I've been changing hats so quickly. At any rate, the role that I played on Tuesday as part of my job as a committee member of a planning team for a national college fair held here in Austin is probably the one for which I was both the most and least prepared. When I arrived at the Austin Convention Center on Tuesday morning (semi-fresh from a swim workout and having already checked in at work), I was quickly directed to the Trinity Street side of the building to help Adam, Sarah, and Roy with transportation issues. I had worked with Roy to coordinate high school attendance at the fair so it seemed natural that we'd be helping with this. Frankly, I didn't care where I was as long as I was being put to good use.
Long story short: 3.5 hours and 80+ school buses later I was finally headed back to my office to check in, do some work, and basically regroup before heading back for the evening fair from 6-8:30 p.m. By job as "traffic cop" was hysterical. At any one moment I was trying to swiftly unload a school bus and direct students inside AND hold back another group of students who were wandering around outside the convention center instead of staying where we'd asked them to stay so that there buses could find them easily for the return trip home. The latter part was especially difficult. If you think teenagers don't listen in general, try talking to a bunch of teenagers who don't know you from Adam and who have zero incentive to do anything you ask. Yeah. I actually had one student look at me and say, "Who are you?" and then under his breath to his friend, "We don't have to listen to her." In a way, he was right. I was just some lady with a name tag trying to exert a little bit of crowd control. Next year, I want some crossing guard gear and maybe I'll look a little more official.
We pulled off this incredibly chaotic dance of loading and unloading and only had three students left behind - pretty amazing. One of those students actually brought total purpose to my morning. I saw her wandering a bit aimlessly outside of the convention center and I approached her asking if I could help her find her school. When she told me which group she belonged to I silently registered that those buses had already left but wanted to double check before I said anything out loud. So I suggested that we go for a walk through the crowds to see if she saw her counselor or some friends. At this point, she said she didn't know her counselor and that she really had no friends. My heart broke a little. As we walked on we started talking and I just got this image of her being a little lost sheep at her school. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic but her school is large and clearly, no one had missed her when the buses loaded and left. And that made me sad for her. She was much more accepting of her state than I was and seeing as I was a perfect stranger, I thought it better to talk about college and what she liked to do instead of how she had no friends.
We contacted her school and as the times would be, I discovered that I couldn't just bring her back to school on my way back to school. That made me a little sad, too. I mean, I get it. They don't know me, I could be some crazy lady and if anything happened to her they would be responsible. And this whole thought made me laugh 1) because of who I am and 2) because they had already been irresponsible and forgotten her at the convention center! So, this student and I waited for her counselor to arrive in a blue Mustang convertible to pick her up.
I only include that detail because I learned a thing or two about this young woman as we waited that made me understand how she really was on the outside of things with regard to her peer group.
1) she had no idea what her cell phone number was (is there another teenager in the world with a cell phone who doesn't know the number? Probably, but I bet you'd be hard-pressed to find one quickly.)
2) she had no idea what a Mustang looked like (maybe not as surprising as #1 but even this girl who know relatively little about cars could have identified a Mustang back in high school)
3) she really couldn't name a single friend for me (and, as I said before, this broke my heart)...to go through high school without a friend...misery. Made me thankful for all of my friends, high school and otherwise.
There were other funny things, too, but soon enough she was settled in that blue Mustang heading back to school. Goodness, I hope she makes it through all that life holds for her. I know she will. She just might need another shepherdess or two in her life to re-direct her when she's wandered away. So glad that was my role on Tuesday.
Tuesday night I played "hallway monitor" at the college fair and then finally got to go home - way too late for my renewed commitment to getting more sleep. And that has been an ongoing problem this week. And now, it's Wednesday and I'm just tired.
Had a rough time with track practice Wednesday night - not mentally (I actually did okay with the mental part of mile repeats) but physically I just couldn't do it like I wanted/exactly like we were supposed to. I held Blythe (barely!) for the first 1/2 of the workout and then settled in just behind her for miles 4 and 5 and then about 15 seconds behind her for mile 6. That was supposed to be our fastest mile of the night. I was glad to just make it back to where we were holding steady for #2-5. My mind kept telling my legs to turn over faster but they really just couldn't or wouldn't or something. Not a great feeling. Not a great practice. But as Amy and Blythe reminded me, I was out there doing it and that was something. (And then I dashed off to a Grandparents' Reception at school...) Going to take it on the chin, chalk it up to a ho-hum practice for the week after a 1/2 Ironman, and focus on sleep, sleep, sleep...
Speaking of...no early rise for me in the a.m. Already completed my coached swim practice of the week so I'm sleeping in! (Until 6:15 a.m. - luxury!) Thanks to Joe for setting me straight with that. Unlike my little lost sheep/girl, I'm lucky to have friends to re-direct me when I start to wander...
On the work front, things are a tad stressful right now. Combatting some fabulous rumors about our college acceptances this year. I'm so not caught up in the names of schools to which our students were accepted that it drives me batty when people are. I have to work hard to keep my cool when I get thrown a punch or two about this. Such has been the week but we're headed into a long weekend and I'm grateful for that.
And as a friend, sister, daughter...well, late nights for work (twice now) have meant for little phone time to catch up with folks. Looking forward to that this weekend, too.
For now...it's off to bed to recharge the batteries so I can do a better job at all of the roles that I will play. Although I think I can retire from being a traffic cop for at least a little while.