Giving back to your community, after you’d, retired, you’d found, that brand new, purpose in your, life here, translated…
When we’re, out, whether it be at the important ramps, or the regular streets, we can see those, voluntary traffic guards with their bright orange striped vests, with the batons, and their whistles, making the traffic flow more, smoothly. I’d always felt, they were all, quite, handsome, and imagined myself, being, one of them, sometime in the futures.
And, one day, some three years ago, I finally, made that happen. At the beginning, I’d only, needed to, stand for my two-hour public shifts, and the more experienced voluntary traffic guards worried that I may not adapt, he’d, especially allowed me to intern after him during the rush hours. As I’d gotten off-duty, I’d gone back home, chimed to my husband excitedly, “this is such simple work, no need for the muscles, OR the brains, just leisurely, blow into that whistle in accordance to the signal lights, waving, to direct the traffic flows, no worries of making the sales every month, no issues of, quality control, so fun, and leisurely!”
And yet, three months on down the line, I’d slowly, needed to help with the tasks of the ordinary world, due to needs of the construction, the cars needed to merge lanes, or there’s a need for the traffic flows to be, reduced, there were, only handfuls of pedestrians, and drivers who’d not followed the orders, who are, really hard to communicate with, light, they’d, shouted at us, the volunteers, and disregarding the safety, and ram right through the streets on their own, and rammed through the traffic cones, at worst, they’d, gone to the engineers, or to call to complain about it at related units, and it’d, made me feel, defeated.
finding ways, to give back, to continue, contributing to the world, after your, retirements…
With the changes in weather, the volunteer traffic police had to weather through the adverse weather conditions of getting rained on by the downpour, getting shone on by the scorching sun. Especially, during the rainy seasons, the heavens loved that game of sunshine and rain together, with our raincoats on, our bodies were drenched in sweats, and we’d started, battling between taking our clothes of, putting them back on. That sweat that came down on us like the rain, is something very trying for us, volunteer traffic patrol guards, plus the dusts from the construction sites, that made it worse. In the heated up summer days, allowing the UV rays to hit us on our faces, painting things all over our faces, waited until that long summer ended, we all looked at one another, and either that we grew spots on our faces, or that our faces are, covered with the, uneven, complexions.
In the chills of the winter, the group of us, volunteer traffic guards, put the fact that we’re, too cold aside, like those, traffic signals, kept watch over the pedestrians and vehicles crossing over the roads. As the sirens neared, to give more time to the injured or the ill, we’d, put our bodies, in front of the flow of traffic, allowing the ambulances to pass first.
Although, the work of a volunteer crossing guard isn’t, as easy, leisurely as I’d imagined from before, but my passion for this, sacred work, still hadn’t, diminished one bit yet.
And so, this is a purpose you are now, serving, to make sure, that those who needed to cross over to the other side of the streets, cross over easily, without any dangers, and that’s why, no matter how hard this work is, you’re, loving it, because you KNOW, that you’re, making a difference, in others’, lives.