Not to pick on anyone specific right now, but I’m fed up with people committing to a project and then letting it drop. Just because you’re not getting paid for it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing.

It happens time after time, your group has a need or even just a little wish and someone steps up all gung ho and says, “I can do that!” Aaaaaand you go along and they hedge, or promise more later, or flat out disappear with a wisp of smoke and you’re left standing with nothing. And most of the time you’re depending on THAT whatever to combine with someone else’s whatever to get a great final project that will now fail miserably leaving you looking like shit.

I’ve done volunteer work for years. From Cub Scouts to Girl Scouts, PTO to classroom helper, even putting out a school yearbook by myself for 5 years. As far as I can recall, once I committed to something I never failed. I don’t remember ever leaving someone in the lurch, and if I couldn’t do what I promised I would, I would ask for help as soon as possible. I won’t list here how many other people over the years promised me they would do something and then dropped the ball. Then waited so long to fess up that I couldn’t get someone else to do it. DEADLINES, we all has them.

What the hell is wrong with people? You think just because you’re not getting paid that it’s not as important as a paying gig? Then DON’T VOLUNTEER! Don’t commit to designing that program, or making that sign, or finding the perfect sponsor if you can’t do it. Or if you have committed and something comes up – TELL SOMEONE IMMEDIATELY so they can pass it along to someone else!  I’m sick of watching these wonderful people I work with expecting follow-through and not getting it. We all start out with high hopes for this or that and then it all trickles down to what we can pull together at the end, because so many people drop out before they’re done.

It’s not the failing that makes you look bad, it’s the screwing people over. Because every time you make a commitment and then devalue it to justify dumping on people, they remember.  And they’ll remember you when it’s time for the work that does pay. How do you want to be remembered?