I was completely shocked to read that Judy, the "Bird Lady" of Travels with Emma was not invited to return to her volunteer position at Imperial Dam NWR. After following her blog and reading all the great comments about her on other RV blogs it was hard to understand it. There are so many full-timers and Dreamers that volunteer their time (and their hard work) that I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else. This is different from a workkamping situation where you're paid to work, when you volunteer you're giving away your time and your labor for a site which many times is not even very good. Many of the volunteers do work that I wouldn't do unless someone paid me good money to do it. My DH and I were planning to volunteer in the future and this is discouraging. Not being appreciated is no fun. Has something like that happened to you?
Dog Folks said
07:53 AM Jan 22, 2015
We have volunteered for 9 years now. We have always been invited back. I attribute that to the fact that we always do little "extras" that are not in the job description.
On the other side of the equation, we have not returned to certain positions, even though we were invited, because of how we were treated by staff. The job was fine, but staff needs a course in human relations.
TRAILERKING said
08:29 AM Jan 22, 2015
manycats wrote:
when you volunteer you're giving away your time and your labor for a site
I guess in reality you are getting paid with a site rather than cash. Real and true volunteering is getting nothing in return for your time.
A-S Travelers said
12:46 PM Jan 24, 2015
Here is a link to the lady's side of the story: http://travels-with-emma.blogspot.com/2015/01/kicked-to-curb.html
No way to know what the parks side of the story is.
Dog Folks said
02:13 PM Jan 24, 2015
Regarding her side of the story, a few things stick out:
She states she was already on the fence about not returning next year. So she was not sure she even wanted to do the job.
The manager maybe worded things wrong, but in essence her work patterns, did not "fit" with what they wanted. That's is O.K. no harm no foul. This is one manager of thousands. She also admits to playing solitaire on their time. That would be a no-no- in any position.
She again, is very upset with actions of one manager. She is thinking of "retiring," if this bothers her so much, for her own health, maybe she should retire.
To the OP. Not all positions you may accept are a perfect fit. We have taken a few jobs that were not good for us, but finished the commitment, smiled, and said thank you, while we placed that location on our "DO Not Go Again" list.
This post is not meant to be critical, and no offense is meant. But just to point out that it was not a good "fit" for her. Plenty more fish in the sea.
Bill and Jodee said
09:06 PM Jan 24, 2015
The only consistent "issue" I hear with volunteer (and some paid) assignments is arriving and finding out the duties or site are not as discussed. In that case it is up to the volunteer to decide to stay or move on.
Given Judy's work ethic and the incredible amount of experience she has it is hard to believe any operation wouldn't be begging her to return. However, that was not the case in Yuma. Another blogger told her she would just leave now, but Judy said she couldn't leave her coworkers to cover her duties and that she remained committed to the program if not the people running it.
Most of the time it seems the workkamper opportunities are win-wins, Judy's case being the rare exception.
I was completely shocked to read that Judy, the "Bird Lady" of Travels with Emma was not invited to return to her volunteer position at Imperial Dam NWR. After following her blog and reading all the great comments about her on other RV blogs it was hard to understand it. There are so many full-timers and Dreamers that volunteer their time (and their hard work) that I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else. This is different from a workkamping situation where you're paid to work, when you volunteer you're giving away your time and your labor for a site which many times is not even very good. Many of the volunteers do work that I wouldn't do unless someone paid me good money to do it. My DH and I were planning to volunteer in the future and this is discouraging. Not being appreciated is no fun. Has something like that happened to you?
On the other side of the equation, we have not returned to certain positions, even though we were invited, because of how we were treated by staff. The job was fine, but staff needs a course in human relations.
I guess in reality you are getting paid with a site rather than cash. Real and true volunteering is getting nothing in return for your time.
Here is a link to the lady's side of the story: http://travels-with-emma.blogspot.com/2015/01/kicked-to-curb.html
No way to know what the parks side of the story is.
She states she was already on the fence about not returning next year. So she was not sure she even wanted to do the job.
The manager maybe worded things wrong, but in essence her work patterns, did not "fit" with what they wanted. That's is O.K. no harm no foul. This is one manager of thousands. She also admits to playing solitaire on their time. That would be a no-no- in any position.
She again, is very upset with actions of one manager. She is thinking of "retiring," if this bothers her so much, for her own health, maybe she should retire.
To the OP. Not all positions you may accept are a perfect fit. We have taken a few jobs that were not good for us, but finished the commitment, smiled, and said thank you, while we placed that location on our "DO Not Go Again" list.
This post is not meant to be critical, and no offense is meant. But just to point out that it was not a good "fit" for her. Plenty more fish in the sea.
Given Judy's work ethic and the incredible amount of experience she has it is hard to believe any operation wouldn't be begging her to return. However, that was not the case in Yuma. Another blogger told her she would just leave now, but Judy said she couldn't leave her coworkers to cover her duties and that she remained committed to the program if not the people running it.
Most of the time it seems the workkamper opportunities are win-wins, Judy's case being the rare exception.
Jodee