This weekend, a group of us decided to volunteer at St.
Sabina’s Renaissance Fair. One of our
housemates is at St. Sabina’s for the year serving as an intake worker in their
social services department. Evidently,
the Renaissance Fair is an annual street festival that is put on by St. Sabina’s
to bring the community together. Named
for a local park, the fair spans a few blocks of 79th Street and is
not a fundraiser, but rather a fun event meant to offer some free or very low
cost food and activities for people in the surrounding areas.
Five of us woke up early Saturday morning to head over to
St. Sabina’s to help set up the festival.
We had all signed up to volunteer until noon, but hadn’t found out what
our positions were. When we arrived, we
noticed a list of different activities where people would be stationed – a petting
zoo, a ferris wheel, a bouncy house, a face painting booth…and the list went
on. We were all excited as we waited for
our names to be called. The first of our
group to learn his assignment was a quiet, docile housemate who is a little
taller than me and about the same weight.
“Ok, you’ll be on the corner of 79th and Elizabeth,” the
woman reading off assignments said to him.
With a somewhat puzzled face, he waited for the rest of the instructions
– a street corner didn’t really mean much.
Realizing he seemed confused, the woman said, “Make sure to grab a black
shirt and a name tag. You’ll be working
security.” It took everything in me not
to burst out laughing.
It may be important here to digress slightly and give a
little background on the neighborhood St. Sabina’s is in – it borders
Englewood, one of the toughest areas in Chicago. The neighborhood is called Auburn Grisham,
and it is somewhat notorious for its high crime rate and gang activity. The poverty and unemployment rates are high in
the neighborhood and the population is about 98% black. There are about 56,000 people living in a
span of about 4 square miles so the buildings are crowded and there are always
people walking around on the streets.
Anywho, back to the story.
I was barely containing my laughter as my housemate stood, still
startled, in the doorway to the room where we were all standing. Even though the woman had dismissed him, he didn’t
move. The rest of us waited patiently as
a few other volunteers’ names were called.
They were dismissed to various places – vendor booths and children’s
activities among other things. Finally
my name was called. “Head to 79th
and Throop,” the woman said, “and make sure you stop by the information booth
for your name tag and wristband.” I
silently prayed she was skipping my specific assignment because time was tight
and she needed people to start moving. I
grabbed my housemate by the wrist and pulled him out the door so I wouldn’t
have to go alone. When I arrived at the
information booth, my fear was confirmed – I was handed a black shirt and told
I would be working security. It is truly
a miracle I did not pee my pants right then and there. I mean picture it – I was standing there, 5’2”,
120 lbs, pale skin, blonde hair in a high side pony tail, wearing a tie-dyed
shirt and converse. Does anything about
that say “security” to you?
I dutifully put on the black t-shirt (size Large, because it was the smallest they had in security shirts) and walked down a few
blocks to my post. I stood, half
laughing at the hilarity of it all and half scared poop-less because I had no
idea what the heck I was supposed to do if God-forbid something went down. The first hour was quiet, there were not too
many people at the festival and some vendors were still setting up. The extent of my job consisted of shrugging
my shoulders when other volunteers asked me questions and smiling at people as
they passed by. Thankfully after the
first hour, I started seeing actually paid security officers and Chicago Police
officers patrolling the streets. One of the
security officers approached me to thank me for volunteering, and reassured me
that I was not being asked to intervene if anything bad happened, just to be
vigilant and report to an actual paid officer.
This was certainly a relief, particularly because I had had no
intentions of intervening anyway, but the conversation assuaged my feelings of
guilt over that plan.
In the end, it really was no big deal. I spent a few hours in the warm sun on a
beautiful day being the extra presence St. Sabina felt they needed. It was a cool way to people-watch, and a nice
opportunity to be immersed in a different community than where I have been
living or serving. And now, I can
officially say I have “worked” security (and I even have the t-shirt to prove
it!). Just another day in the life here
at Amate J
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