Arguably, volunteering comes with more weight than a paid job.
Imagine a friend of yours said to you that they would help you move this coming weekend. Now imagine that they stood you up.
How would you feel? Of course, it would vary from person to person, but undoubtedly one would be reasonably miffed at having not been contacted in any way about their decision to bail on you.
Why couldn’t they have just sent a text telling you not to wait up? In today’s world, it is hard to imagine a reason someone could not manage to do this, barring some extreme emergency.
And yet, I would suspect that we all have found ourselves in both situations. The flake and the flaked on.
There are any number of reasons people would choose to bail on a volunteer gig, but that is not what I am after.
But why on earth would we simply not send a message?
It is not OK to promise to do something and then not only not follow through, but leave people hinged on whether you actually will or not. Like waiting all day for your friend to show up to help you move your furniture.
Many volunteer opportunities do not have the luxury of extending their time outside what was originally alotted, outside of the time you may have signed up for. Sometimes, groups will have to turn other volunteers away because a spot was already promised to you.
Just because you’re not getting paid doesn’t make it justified for you to bail at the last minute and simply not tell anyone. They will, in fact, miss you if you’re not there.
But really, I am not trying to condemn anyone that has failed at volunteering. All I am asking is that, in the future, you are honest and open with yourself.
If you can’t or just don’t want to follow through and think they will be upset, they won’t be nearly as upset as when they are counting on you til the bitter end.
Send that awkward text and you will save yourself some face, and other hard-working people’s time.
Resond to Tabitha
