April Showers

I ran into April early this morning. She was on her way to sleep after working all night at the USO. I told her I’d been up late working on my blog. She said, “I didn’t know you had a blog. I’ll have to check it out.” I told her she might even be mentioned in one of the articles. I’m not sure if I previously wrote about April or not, but in all fairness she should have a page wholly to herself.

April (aka “The Army Chick”) has been assisting at our USO since June. She is one of our best volunteers, coming consistently at least once or twice a week and actually working while she’s here. When she comes she usually stays for eight, sometimes ten to twelve hours. She learned the check-in desk very quickly and may be more competent than some of our paid staff. She keeps everything and everyone organized and current. When April shows up it feels like a holiday; we all say a prayer of thanks and breathe a huge sigh of relief.

About 1,206 times per shift we need to stop what we’re doing and check the roster: “But I've been waiting forever.” “Did you call my name?” “Where am I on the list?” (What the soldiers actually want to know is if they have enough time before their name is called to go outside for a cigarette.) April says, “Have you been here for an hour? Come back and ask me after you’ve waited for an hour. Then I’ll check your name.” She says this with the most delightful Minnesota accent. April has complete confidence and the troops adore her.

Our shifts have been challenging lately: Consider that we have huge troop surges, that our USO is woefully (albeit temporarily) understaffed and at least two people at a time are on PTO. In some places that would be a recipe for chaos. Add volunteers like April to the situation and everyone comes out ahead.

Update: I published this post this morning. This evening April found out that she is being transferred to Camp Buehring immediately (today)! GOSHDAMNIT!!!!

-o0o-

The other picture is QRF (Quick Reaction Force) having lunch at McDonalds.