When I walked into the hangar I expected to find someone with a clipboard and a yellow vest. They would take my name and assign me a job. But no! There was no such person. Instead, one of the volunteers told me to just sign in at the back, find something that needed doing, and get to work. I love that!

It reminds me of a family story:

My brother-in-law Steve Hallmark and his wife attended church on Capitol Hill for many years. If the church held a fund-raiser or a dance, he was always there to help out. Then they moved to Chicago and joined a church there. One day, he was asked, “Steve, we’re having a dance next month in the parish hall, would you be willing to help with decorations?” “Sure! When’s the planning meeting?” The guy looked at him blankly. “What planning meeting?” “You know, where we get together and figure out what style of decorations and who’s going to bring what.” The fellow replied with a puzzled look, “No, no – we just show up and decorate the parish hall.”

That’s when Steve realized that he wasn’t in Washington anymore, and that Chicago had something to teach him.

Operation Airdrop is out of Texas. I see that Texas has something to teach me, too. I grabbed a shopping cart and got to work.