Thai Red cross Flood relief - some heavy lifting

Update: pictures on the flood situation 15Nov2011 here.

 Take a bag walk in a large circle and the bag is filled as you pass different stations.

Give it to the a group of 30 people sitting and tying the bags up.

Then a human chain laods about 100 bags into one of the HUGE trucks.

Load 40 kg bags of rice into a trucks from forklift pallets. Two man job.

I insist its always two men, no heroics, the young ones will try anyway though.

Ok, whatever.

Finally some REAL action and heavy lifting.

Enough sittinig and typing on my computer, I want to DO some REAL work, (yes ok: Writing is real work too.)

I've not seen any real action on the flood relief front - because as a foreigner I wasn't able to find it till now.

It's a'happenin' though, and with real gusto.

About 10 huge trucks needed filling, 130 volunteers mill around the Thai Red Cross.

Students, tiny petite girls, lanky  tall dudes, weatherbeaten veterans, the whole mix is here. Even a farang (foreigner) or two.

Its fun

There is a spirit of adventure and all joining in, everyone just looks for stuff to do and does it.

I only speak a little Thai, but the organization is kind of organic.It's easyto pick up. Monkey see, monkey do, stuff.

I'm the monkey.

People know the drill.

Ok, now we do the bag fill run again.

Then the human chain to fill the truck with water, with boxes, with bags.

The 40kg bags or rice are out of their league. "Da Boiyz" do those. "Two at a time", "Song Khon" I tell them in Thai. It's about the only thing I input into the process and they listen.

Still surprises me that people listen to me.

Then a young Thai explains it to me.

"It's because your old, they'll listen to you."

Ouch... there I have it  !!!

Ouch...!!!

I now have the seniority of age, I finally made it to that level.

I have felt things were kinda easier, people listened to me recently, esp in Asia.

Get older in Asia, seems a wise choice.

A thoroughly  enjoyable day, real action, witnessed first hand.

And I didn't get any funny stares or looks. Just turned up, did it.

I wonder about the process in Australia, I can just imagine it. Kilometers of forms, insurance, legal stuff to sign.

Here you just wander in and help.

Today I've found my balance in work: the recipe is: mental work for half the day, and physical work for the other half. Perfect.

----- Musings:

Why is something like that so enjoyable ? And working in a large bureaucracy/organization  is so deadening ?

This thing today is:

• Temporary,
• clear common purpose
• freedom to choose your activity, 
• spirit of adventure.

 Large org is:

• Long term,
• for money
• you are a cog in the machine, 
• caged dogs barking and  snarling at each other.... 

but then: the system is a product of its people. WE created  it. ...

hm... bears thinking about more....

Too tired to do much more now.

H