Mr. McGuire, the Theology professor wore a ball cap, a free t-shirt, khaki shorts, and walking shoes. He came up and shook my hand as he introduced himself and asked me my name. I gave a firm handshake and said, "My names Bryan, thanks for having me along today. I really appreciate it sir." He gave me a big smile and thanked me for coming.
After sitting through a short church service (gotta love St. Johns for being a Catholic university), we headed off towards the bus stop. We had to take two buses and walk a few blocks before we finally arrived. A fairly small building mixed in with the rest of queens read "HeartShare." A small playground next to the building was crawling with adults and kids. Heartshare is a Preschool for kids with autism and other disabilities. When we walked in we got a name-tag and were told to pick a station. The bean-bag station looked like a good spot so we manned that the entire day.
There were a bunch of activities going on but the highlight of the playground was the guy with all the animals. First, lets get something straight. This guy had to have snorted crack or something. There is no way I could stand behind a table for 7 or 8 hours talking about the same animals over and over and over again. The kicker is that he was showing them to the same kids. They would come up, he would give the presentation "This is Alice the TURTLE!", the kids would go get a popsicle or whatever, come back, and he would give the same show to the same kids. I bet that guy goes home after an 8 hour day, gets shwasted, and talks to his animals. I mean he has names for them all. I could see him and Rodney the sand viper sitting on the couch watching scary movies late at night. The kids loved him so whatever he is doing to get through the day is working.
By about noon the playground was packed full of kids face painting and petting the animals. From what I saw the kids were socially withdrawn so sometimes it was tough to get them to open up but with all of the excitement most of them were pretty outgoing. One of the parents came up to me, introduced himself, and told me how much he appreciated the other St. Johns kids and I helping out. It was a really good feeling.
On the other hand, some of the parents looked frustrated when their kid couldn't do some of the games and whatnot. I couldn't even imagine the work that goes into being a parent to a kid with special needs. I really have to hand it to them to be honest.
What an exhausting day. Working a bean-bag stand in the hot sun all day is no easy task. After we helped clean up and enjoyed nice rainbow freeze pops, we all set off towards the bus stop. Great kids, great weather, great day.
Til next time,
Bhoov
