Community Service: Day 1

Did you arrive on time: No. I did not arrive on time, in fact, I was about 20 minutes late. HOWEVER, this was NOT my fault- honestly! My mom agreed that she would drive me in early for the first day and that from then on, I would take the bus. But the problem was, she had left her glasses in my Dad's car, which she had only found out just as we were leaving. At this stage, I was too late for the bus. So the only option was to call a taxi, which arrived 10 minutes later. So my first day of Community service and I was late- but it was COMPLETELY my mom's fault.

Describe your jobs and activities today:

• Morning: I had to count the expired stock (clothes and other donations that have been over 2 weeks on the shop floor but haven't been sold)  and put them into plastic bags. Then I had to record on a sheet the amount of expired stock which was later going to be collected and brought to the Enable Ireland HQ in Ballyfermot.
• Afternoon: I had to bring the incoming stock (donations from all around the country brought from the HQ) from a truck into the "Incoming Stock" room. The incoming stock consisted of 76 bags of clothes and about 25 crates of books.

About my first day

1. Who did you meet when you arrived?: the assistant manager, Liz
2. What responsibilities were you given?: to count the expired stock and to bag it
3. Who did you work with today?: Liz, the assistant manager, Fiona, Bernie (a volunteer) and Aluna (another volunteer)
4. What was the best thing about today?: At lunch, I was free to go anywhere I wanted for an hour, which was a big novelty in comparison to school lunch where I'm restricted to the Merrion Centre
5. What could improve about today?: I could (and should) have been earlier