I Volunteered at My Kid’s Book Fair and It Didn’t Suck

An email went out last week to be a volunteer for the Book Fair at Kyle’s school. I flagged it — you know, as a maybe — and scrolled on. Another email was sent out a couple days later, so I flagged that one, too — as a maybe maybe. But then I saw a version pop up in a Facebook group and, well, what’s that old saying, ‘Always a parent, never a volunteer.’ So long story less complicated, yes, while the ‘setting up and breaking down’ sounded a bit #extra, the description for ‘cashier’ said EASY.

Turns out that was incredibly accurate. But I give more credit to the Scholastic™ software team than my ability to learn quickly.

Shooting a laser gun at a bar code and getting a solid beep in return is always richly rewarding, so I dug that. And where a group of first and second graders gathering en masse holding books out for purchase can be a little nerve-racking, it wasn’t like any of them knew to complain about the poor customer service. “Sir, excuse me, why is this taking so long? Is the manager here? I’d like to speak to the manager, please!”

It also wasn’t like they were pulling out smartphones or holding their Fitbits out to pay for anything. Most had an e-wallet — a set amount of money in a school account created to spend on books. I just had to look up their name. When I couldn’t find their name…