In the Nineteen nineties, my Youth work heroes were often described, at conference introductions, as being, Veteran Youth Workers. This badge of 'veteran' is kind of vague and I think it is largely conferred for having worked with young people for many many years, and for having greying (or no) hair. Having worked with young people for twenty five years now I've been looking out for signs that, in terms of longevity, I may be earning the prefix, veteran!
Having said that apart from the greying hair ... and that it takes me longer to recover from a residential event, what are the signs one looks for?
I may have spotted one I think though at the Youth Group Christmas Party! My response to the comestibles was a definite pointer towards veteranism. The food there consisted of chocolate fingers, crisps and cakes, accompanied by Lemonade or Coke. Back in the day this would have constituted the three main food groups for me and an excellent choice of beverage. I did however this time find myself thinking, oh I'd love a cup of coffee and a decent sandwich!
Happily though, I still LOVED the malarky and fun of the party and the young people were, as ever, wonderful company and completely and wonderfully CraazZZy.
I realised I had moved into the veteran stage when I started having to use LARGE PRINT Mission Praise `cos my arms were too short to use the ordinary copy.
Les,
made me laugh, excellent defintion! (but maybe I'm only thinking that 'cos my arms are still long enough)