Last week, the husband and I spent a day of our vacation volunteering at the construction site for the Make-Over Home about 30 miles from our house. I signed up for the project with mixed emotions, and came away with mixed emotions. Some changed, some remained the same.
Of course we all know that what we see on tv isn't exactly what is taking place (unless perhaps it's live footage), and after having witnessed first hand the taping of the Extreme show, it kinda took the "magic" out of the show.
I am not a regular viewer of the show, probably only having watched a handful of them in their entirety. The only cast member that I know by name or would ever recognize is Ty(sp?). Other volunteers were throwing names out and I'm going "Who?", perhaps I should've familiarized myself with the cast/crew before going out there, then I could've been on the look-out for the stars. But then, I'm not a starry-eyed star-chaser as some seem to be. I was there to do a job, not to get autographs or have my photo taken with a celebrity.
We arrived at 4:30 Thursday morning, got checked-in and given our t-shirt, wristband and hard hat before riding the shuttle to the construction site. Despite the fact that it was pitch black outside everywhere else, it was brighter than daylight at the site what with all the generators and flood lights set up all over the place. It was amazing how many workers were already there and had been there throughout the night, working at a frenzied pace. This was the last day of construction and things had to get done by that afternoon. For the first 2 or 3 hours, it felt like we stood around and waited more than anything. "Tim" was in charge of assigning the volunteers jobs, and periodically our little group would be given a task to remove a pile of trash/scrap to the dumpster, then return to the staging area and wait for the next assignment. We were given strict orders to wear our hardhats at all times while on site and that any/all vehicles had the right of way, and if a worker in a green shirt asked us to do something, even if we were already doing some other task, we were to do whatever the green-shirts wanted. We only observed one nit-wit that failed to wear a hardhat, instead she had a knit cap over her wild mass of curls. I don't know what made her so privileged that she was exempt from wearing a hardhat, perhaps it was because of the short-shorts she was wearing. I did see a few more nit-wits wearing dress shoes/boots or clogs to the site to work in. Really people? Couldn't you wear something a bit more appropriate? I suppose "looking good" in case you get on tv or see a celebrity is much more important than your safety. I know if I were going to be carried away on a stretcher after breaking an ankle, I'd want to have the best looking shoes on my feet... I can hear the other workers now: Poor Pitawoman, it's a shame she broke her ankle wearing those stiletto heels over this rough terrain, but at least she looked good when she fell in that pile of debris.
After about 9am, the production crew finally started emerging from their rvs and started barking orders. We were assigned to work with an Asian woman, Noel I think was her name. We were the "gym crew" and given the instructions to clean the gym. I'm not going to give away details of the home's layout and many extravagant amenities, but suffice it to say this place has all the bells and whistles. I would imagine it's going to take several weeks (months?) to learn how to use all the gadgets this home is loaded with. John and I started off mopping the floor where the work-out equipment was to be placed, only to have a crew come waltzing through that still needed to do some work on the bathroom, thus tracking up the floor we'd just mopped. Can you say "wasted effort, wasted time?" I finally gave up mopping and started to help clean the windows, I hadn't gotten too far into that job when a painter said to me, "I'm getting ready to paint that door" and to which I replied, "so basically, I'm wasting my time here" and gave up in disgust. I wasn't disgusted with the painter, just with the disorganized way things were being done. Honestly, it got to the point there were too many people in too small of an area trying to work, and we were getting in one anothers way. John and I finally threw up our hands, returned to the staging area and asked to be given another task. The rest of the day, we were assigned to work with "Tom" from Boland Maloney Lumber.
We threw out a LOT more trash, stacked supplies and generators on pallets and applied shrink-wrap so that Tom could haul it away with his fork-lift. The thing about this whole project that really disgusted and disappointed me the most is the amount of waste involved. There were nearly full boxes of supplies that were thrown away, simply because they'd been opened. I was horrified beyond belief!! Why not contact Habitat for Humanity or some of the church groups that do fix-up projects for homes in the community to come and take away the excess that would otherwise end up in the landfill? One of our many supervisors throughout the day, whether it was Tim, Tom, Mike, Jay, Brandon or Rocky, informed us that they always ordered more supplies than they needed to complete the project ahead of time, that way the didn't have to worry about running out and waiting for more to arrive, since they were on such a strict deadline. Okay, I understand the over-ordering, but not the throwing away part. It just appalled me to no end!!! There was a portable basketball goal that looked practically brand new, instead of saving it for the kids that would be living in the new house, it was tossed into the dumpster and mashed down. Again, horrified! Several of the volunteers said they'd like to have it, but of course unless you could haul it away right then and there, you couldn't have it.
When it came time to move the bus, we were again disappointed with the reality of how things really happen. Ty gets the crowd all worked up and tells them to yell out "Move That Bus!", so we did, the camera crews filmed it all, only to have the bus back up and do it again several more times. Then the limo pulled up, Ty gets all theatrical about opening the door, only to let us all down because there were no passengers. Several takes later, they finally brought in a limo with the family inside, but not before several film shoots were taken of Ty running up the front steps of the house. The only thing that was done in one take was moving the bus with the family standing there. That's a one-time only filming of their genuine surprise. Even once the family was allowed to run up to the house, that too was filmed several times over.
Of course, what the filming crew won't show is the other side of the house which wasn't completed, and in fact, had cardboard tacked in place to cover the soffets. I supposed they finished it within a day or so and came back to film a little bit of footage to include when they edit all the takes.
Another disappointment, and one that was echoed by several of the other volunteers, was how we were treated once our job was done. We felt we should've had our own viewing-area, separate from the regular spectators, but we didn't and had to mingle with those who were there simply to watch and of course already had the best viewing spots taken. We got lost in the shuffle and could hardly see a thing. We never got the chance to go back to the car and get our camera, and ended up taking a few pix with our cell phones. I'm hoping I can get to Walgreens later today and try to get mine developed, even though I don't think the quality will be very good.
This home, which is beautiful and looks like it should be sitting out on a forest covered mountain somewhere, looks completely out of place amongst the neighboring homes. The next door neighbor's house was a tiny little thing made of concrete-blocks and honestly, I think my office here at work is as big as that house, that's how small it is. Unless a security fence is put up around the new home, I can easily imagine it being vandalized before too long, at the very least, the kids' tree house getting torn up. I know there are donations coming in to help this family with some of the added expenses they will be facing, but eventually, those donations will cease and they are going to have to make it on their own. I just hope ABC and the show's producers aren't setting this family up with a huge burden down the road.
I realize it wouldn't be as much sensationalism and probably wouldn't draw as many viewers, but seriously, wouldn't it be more practical to build a moderate home the family could afford to keep up with and that would not look so out of place in the neighborhood, than to build something so extreme? Oh wait a minute, that would require them to change the name of the show to "Moderate and Practical Home Make-Over". Doesn't sound as special, does it?
Okay, so that was all the let-downs, now on to the feel-good stuff:
In exchange for allowing the builders and crew to park so much equipment on his lawn and for allowing them to disrupt his life, the little old man that lives next door is getting a new roof put on his house, the exterior painted, his fence repaired and some drainage problems he was having on his property will be fixed. We all thought that was very nice that the neighbor was getting some much needed help as well.
I was in complete amazement that everybody seemed to be working so well together. Yes, at times we were in one anothers way, but you never saw anyone lose their cool or composure, everyone seemed to get along, and was eager to help anyone in anyway possible, to help anyone they saw struggling. I can honestly say the only person that seemed to get on the nerves of the other volunteers was a self-appointed "security guard" that patrolled the food tent so that the neighborhood thugs wouldn't steal the food. This moron couldn't wait to brag to anyone within hearing distance how he was just itching to use his tazer on someone if they crossed the line, and about how he was waiting to get a search warrant so they could go search one of the neighbors homes he felt had stolen a hand-carved item that was to be placed in the new home. Turns out, it wasn't stolen, one of the contractors had taken it home over night to avoid having it stolen, and brought it back the next day. Yeah, wannabe cop was the only idiot we really encountered that day.
Best of all, it was fun working with others towards a common goal. We met a lot of truly nice people and even exchanged email/phone numbers with some and have started keeping in touch with them, perhaps we'll have a viewing party when the show finally does air on television.
So the big question is: If the show ever comes to our area again to help another family, would I again sign up to help?
Yeah, I think I would. Only difference is that I'd like to help in at the beginning of the project instead of the end. And if I ever do it again, I'm going to put a disposable camera in my fannypack.
Other moments of interest:
*I learned how to use the toilet on a slant. The port-a-potty I chose to use at the site was sitting on a slight incline but I didn't really notice it until I was trying to let my pants down. I felt as if I would tip over at any moment. When my business was done and I was pulling up my pants, I heard a "SPLASH!" and immediately panicked, thinking my cell phone had fallen into the belly of the bio-hazard beast. A feeling of dread filled me as I turned slowly and peered down into the gallons of human waste. A huge sense of relief replaced the dread as I saw the small bottle of water floating there instead of my cell phone. The water bottle had been in my jacket pocket and fallen out. My cell phone was still safely tucked into my fanny pack. Whew!!
*For someone who is a hand washing freak such as myself, you learn to get over it and just ignore the layers and layers of dirt and grime covering your hands. If you were lucky, you got to rinse as much off as possible in some cold water before eating.
*There were several tall coolers full of canned drinks on ice. With the exception of diet drinks, I don't care to drink sodas unless they are poured over ice. The only ice available was what was in the coolers and everyone had touched with their questionably clean hands. So I discovered that I was able to "get-over-it" and was willing to risk catching a disease in exchange for having ice in my drink. Yes, I poured my Coke over ice that countless people had touched. So far, I've had no ill side-effects.
If you ever get the chance to volunteer at one of these make-overs, despite the few negatives I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I highly recommend it. John and I both had a great time and enjoyed ourselves very much. It was a great way to end our vacation.
ps (added 11/4/10),
I finally got the photos downloaded, to view them, click on this link.
