Dear Mr. -------:

We live in a strange, mixed up world, where volunteer organizations don't need volunteers. In fact, I've had several experiences where I was turned down as a volunteer.

I need six community service hours. I also love to work with animals, which in my mind is a lot more fun than cleaning up roads and cemeteries. So naturally, I looked into veterinary offices and animal shelters.

My first idea was to try the --- -------- Animal Clinic in Massachusetts, where I stayed for a week with my aunt. I knocked on the door, and didn't receive any answer. So I took the liberty of letting myself in. The first thing I saw was an empty reception desk, and a layer of grime on the floor. Then, turning around, I saw a small office that housed a rather obese man who was talking on the telephone. When he saw me, he mumbled to the person on the other end of the phone that there was someone at reception, and slowly walked in introducing himself as Doctor -------. When asked if he needed help, this one man janitor, veterinarian, bookkeeper, and janitor grumbled that he had everything taken care of, and promptly dismissed me. Of course he didn't need help, he would get around to mopping sometime this decade.

Through a conversation with a friend, I discovered a small cat shelter in Albany called "-------", that was completely staffed by volunteers. Well, I left a message on their answering machine (according to the recording, they were understaffed and couldn't pick up the phone in person) asking for a volunteer information packet. A few days later it arrived in the mail, and I read through it. Then, I left another message on their machine. About a week passed before I started getting frustrated. I called all of the dog catchers in my area code, and not a single one had ever heard of ---------. I then e-mailed the ASPCA, which had very little to contribute (one of their staff members researched ---------- for me and came up with nothing except the post office box). A few days after, someone called me and had me go through training. At this point, the volunteer coordinator tried to schedule me for Thursdays. After a week or so had passed, whenever I got home, I frantically went through my phone messages to see if ------- had called. Well, I had just about had it. I called the person who was in charge of getting volunteers trained, who said that they were rearranging schedules so that they could fit me in on Thursday. Well into my second week of waiting, I finally got a phone call from the volunteer coordinator saying that everything was all set for me to start in four days. Unfortunately, she didn't know what time I was supposed to be there, so she had to call the person in charge of that shift. Ten minutes later, I get a call from the volunteer coordinator saying that Thursday was too full and that they couldn't fit me in. End of story. A place that didn't have enough volunteers, according to the answering machine, said that they had too many volunteers. I thought the coordinator was taking care of fitting me in?

You know, in this world, people make it hard for you to offer volunteer help. Oh, well. Back to good old road and cemetery clean-up. I know I won't be turned down volunteering for that.