Folklife

I got to go home early from my volunteer shift today. There wasn't really anything to do. I hate it when that happens. I understand that they need to schedule a certain amount of excess to be sure they have enough in case someone doesn't show up, but I spent 3 hours wandering around trying to find stuff to do. Ugh. I hate being a "roamer" or "floater."

This is my 5th year volunteering with them, but I may not do it again next year. Between the having less fun every year and the fact that Folklife incorporates so many things I hate I don't know why I do it anymore. It used to be that almost all the activities in the kids area were free. That encouraged a lot of kids to come and do them. Slowly, more of the activities have become not free. I kind of feel like if a vendor is sponsoring a booth, they're donating and writing off the materials used in the booth. I don't know... maybe I'm unrealistic in my views on that. And while a $3.00 "donation" to cover materials isn't a lot, it kind of is. Especially if you've got multiple children.

I also don't like crowds. It isn't that I panic or anything in them, but they irritate me. Between the random stoppers and the random standers it is difficult to get from one place to the next.