Post #477481 by TikiShopPua on Mon, Aug 17, 2009 8:38 AM

I realize that lines were long, and sometimes tempers were a little short, but I'd like to put in my two cents from a VOLUNTEER's standpoint. My hubby Charlie and I put in a five hour shift at the wristband check-in table from 6:30 to 11:30 on Friday night. We took over from Susie, Adrienne, Kimmie, and her honey (I'm sorry, in the chaos, I didn't get a chance to properly meet you!), who were absolutely incredible. Adrienne kept her smile for her long shift ahead of us, and sometimes, despite the odds stacked against her, remained cool and collected. All day long on Friday, from volunteer orientation meetings in the early morning, to midnight on Friday night when we packed it in for the night, we watched Mateo (Hukilau Brown) doing everything in his power to try to keep hot-under-the-collar tempers down. He was the ultimate "Go-to Guy." He never left that line all day and all night. Yes, it got long, and yes, some of you might have had to wait. But we watched the lines, each and every one of them, and for the most part, people made the best of it. What good is complaining when you're here for a happy time? People got to know people and had GREAT conversations. The people who had the best of the Aloha Spirit simply got themselves a drink, stood patiently in line, and talked story with the others in the same boat. It might have moved slowly at times, but please remember that this boat was running on VOLUNTEER steam! For the hundreds of people who were checking in on that Friday night and who had to wait, maybe only 3 got a little ugly with me, but by the time we got their names and bands, and I woo'ed them with my amazing Aloha Spirit and fabulous Hawaiian smile ::wink wink::, I think they were a little embarrassed that they had any beef at all and toodled along to have the time of their lives. Some who had to come back to get their mugs, met NO line at all, thanks to amazing runners like Chaz. Again people, VOLUNTEERS, who, by the way, also had to stand in long lines too!

In Hawai'i, we have a saying; "If can, can. If no can, no can." Meaning, if you can do it, we'll be happy and enjoy the time with you. If you can't do it, we'll be sad, but we will understand." Well Mateo took that saying, and bent over backwards to make the "no can" part into a "can" part for people. In the 'ohana way, he turned unhappy into happy. As far as I am concerned, he became an honorary Hawaiian to me that very night. And that's what we watched him do all weekend long. I watched other volunteers doing the very same thing time and time again all weekend long. Even when our shift was over, and even though the entire weekend was a work weekend for us, we never took off our VOLUNTEER caps. If there was a need somewhere, as we watched Mateo mentor for us, and as Baby Doe asked all of us to do, we wore our volunteer badges proudly. If someone needed something, we tried to do it for them while still trying to take care of our own things. THAT is the kind of effort that made things work.

I realize that some people came a long way, and spent hard-earned dollars to be there. But honestly, please remember that some people came a long way, and spent hard-earned dollars to be there, and STILL worked their okoles off for no pay to try to make sure people had a great time. And some of us would do it again in a heartbeat because we saw a lot of heart and soul and the TRUE Aloha Spirit at work.

Amene (Amen)

P.S. - Shame on Tiki Dan for stealing our handtruck! Bad mana, Man. Bad mana. Mahalos to Jason at Smokin' Tikis for lending us his.

[ Edited by: TikiShopPua 2009-08-17 08:46 ]