by Barry Scott
As the manager for WinnipegREALTORS® Call Centre, customer service and assisting others has always been my job. It is something I have always taken pride in and it’s important to me that the members I serve and my co-workers that surround me come away with a positive experience.
However, service to others in the form of volunteering, while important to me, has always been restricted. Don’t get me wrong, I have volunteered in the past, but usually in one-off situations with a reluctance to pledge to longer terms simply because of time management. I also get that many of us have demands for our time through work/school duties, exam preparation and families, and to add something more isn’t always feasible.
Back in October 2016, I read a WinnipegREALTORS® E-Bulletin article with an announcement for Canada Games volunteers. With my love for sports and a sudden gush of goodwill, I decided to sign myself up. I was allowed to pick the days and time to volunteer and then sat back to wait for a schedule. Volunteers had the option to accept or decline each scheduled shift, but I was surprised that I had been offered so many.
Then that old gush of goodwill, reinforced with civic pride, made me think, if they need that much help why not take two weeks’ vacation and offer as much help as I can? I would save the long weekend to the lake for myself, but the rest of my time would be for volunteering at the Canada Games.
As summer approached, friends would ask what I had planned. Proudly, I said that I took two weeks off in August to volunteer at the Canada Games. Some gave me a puzzled look, while some commended me. A few others rather forthrightly said, “You took two weeks’ vacation to volunteer. Are you crazy?”
Suddenly, I too began questioning the sanity of my decision. Why did I do this? After some soul searching, I knew I had made a commitment, and that good or bad, I had to stick with it.
My first day set the tone for the rest of the Canada Games. Walking into the volunteer lounge — all of us strangers — I sat down at one of the tables and noticed three copies of the Real Estate News on the table with a fourth being read by a volunteer. Wanting to strike up a conversation, I mentioned that I worked for WinnipegREALTORS® and it was the paper we published. She told me she was a volunteer from Alberta and that she was awed by the low cost of buying a house.
She commented that she was amazed at how friendly the people were and how there was so much to see and do in Winnipeg.
I told her I loved my city, but the winters can be harsh and our roads — well, they’re not the greatest! She told me that if I wanted to see really bad roads, I should come to Alberta.
A gentleman sitting to my left over heard our conversation, and told us to come to his hometown of Timmins, Ontario, to see bad roads. Unexpectedly, a few others joined in with their bad road stories about the towns and cities where they resided.
Eventually, the conversation reverted back to their visit here and how surprised and pleased each was with their overall experience. Two of the people I spoke with that morning, one of whom was still holding the Real Estate News, said that she and her husband were giving serious consideration to moving to Winnipeg.
Really? I thought. But before I could ask a question, we were all called to move to our volunteer stations.
Throughout the day, I met fans, athletes and media from all over Canada, who all had positive views about our city. By the end of the first day of my volunteer shift, I was tired, but filled with a sense of pride of how Winnipeg was being perceived by so many visitors. The rest of my Canada Games shifts were filled with positive comments and compliments.
Looking back, I still think about the beginning of my first shift and the enthusiasm and “wow” sensation of visitors really liking our city. But at the end of my first shift, when some skepticism crept in, I thought maybe everyone was just being polite?
That first night, when I got home, I reflected on the entire day and realized — save Vancouver (I lived there for six years) or Victoria — the people in almost every other Canadian city think they have the worst roads and/or bad winters. So for us in Winnipeg, we are not alone.
What the visitors from across Canada made me realize about our city is that there are so many things to do that we forget about, that Winnipeggers are genuinely friendly and that you do have a chance to burn your mortgage papers within your lifetime.
I also appreciated that the two weeks of vacation spent volunteering in my hometown was not an act of craziness. It was worth every hour to meet people who appreciated our city, which renewed my sense of civic pride. Definitely, it was a “stay-cation” to remember.