Saturday, September 24, 2011

On being taken care of

I've been officiating high school football for a very long time. When I was in Washington it was all business and the officials were viewed as just another cost of doing business for the schools.

When I was in Montana, because there were only nine of us and we covered the same five schools all the time and lived in those small communities, it was overly friendly. We were viewed, I think, as a necessary evil to be tolerated and we were tolerated because everybody knew us personally.

Here in Oregon, however, things are different. The association I am now part of is large and very professional, but not overly so. It's very much like Washington in that regards. But what's different from here than any other place I've officiated at is the schools. All of the schools I've worked for so far have treated us not as a cost of doing business, or as a necessary evil, but as a vital part of the game and they've done their best to treat us as such. Every place has made sure that we are fed at halftime (and between games sometimes). They all make sure we have water or Gatorade available to keep us hydrated. And they have all said, "Thanks for being here."

Yep . . . I hope to be in this place for a very long time, and the church is just part of the reason.

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