Walking Backwards

I think it might at last be time for me to turn introspective and consider this year. After all, I start my new job Monday -- which I can't believe -- and I should finish my blogging about my volunteer time first. Here is my list of Things I've Learned. They fall into two groups : the Hows and the Whats.

Things I've Learned in My Year of Volunteer Service:

1) How to jump a car (though I probably won't remember)

2) How to get rid of flies

3) That Panera started in St. Louis

4) How to parallel park

5) How to pay in cash for gasoline

6) That a GSP is not necessary

7) That Wednesday mornings are perfect for lattes.

8) That I don't know myself as well as I thought I did

9) How to be friends with people who are not nerds

10) That a Beth-sized person can fit into a laundry chute

11) That poverty is complex

12) How to bite my tongue

13) How to speak with compassion

14) How to placate rich donors

15) That dignity and pride are different

16) How to make and sell dog bones

17) How to make clam chowder

18) That white-girl hair fascinates black girls

19) How to be more observant

20) That I don't matter -- or that I do