Recreation Guy

“They’re not snotty and they’re not all rich”, I said.

My buddy who works with inner city youth in Pasadena, CA didn’t know how I could go from working with inner city kids at a Boys and Girls Club camp – who, as he says, really needs recreation programs – to working with upper class kids at a city recreation department.

“It wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel like I was making a difference. Listen, I enjoy working with teens and you don’t. What’s the big deal? We all have our strengths and weaknesses and likes and dislikes. I like what I’m doing and where I’m doing it.” He didn’t understand that I went through a period of feeling selfish and guilty because I didn’t want to work with inner city youth anymore. I felt the same way he did – that these kids could really use someone who cares about them and needed recreation outlets that would keep them off the streets. I just couldn’t relate to them like he could.

I grew up in a not-so-great area of Los Angeles County, but I went to a private school up until I got to high school, thanks to the anonymous donation of someone in our church. So while the neighborhood I grew up in was nowhere near middle class, the kids that I went to school with were, for the most part, from middle to upper middle class families. These are the types of kids I relate to the most.

“There are people like you that thrive on working with the inner city population, and god bless you for that. That’s where you feel most comfortable and can do the most good. I, too, have found where I feel most comfortable and can do the most good,” I tell him.

“Whatever. I just wish we were still working together. We had some good times.”

Oh, now I get it…I miss working with you too, dude.