Volunteering is really fulfilling because it makes you feel like you’re contributing something valuable.

But just like in paid roles, a manager can change all that.

Check out the fallout.

I’m not a volunteer? Okay.

In the 1990s I was a college student studying Botany.

A local botanical garden sponsored a plant sale every year, which brought in dozens of vendors of rare and native plants and probably upwards of a thousand plant fanatics.

People would drop thousands of dollars on plants at this sale.

She was super efficient.

The botanic garden had a volunteer policy that was basically “Work for two hours helping at the sale and you get in a half hour before the general public.”

I seldom bought anything, but I knew and chatted with several of the vendors and it was nice to peruse without the insane crush of people.

The mostly elderly volunteers did various tasks like man the cash registers and information booth, and the younger ones like me would set up tables or help people carry out their purchases.

One year I discovered that I was really fast at assembling boxes.

The botanic garden had boxes printed just for the sale and they were basically cardboard flats for carrying plants.

At some point I started coming two hours early just to put together boxes.

I would do 20 while others were struggling to make one.

By the end of two hours, I would have a huge stack of boxes that would last through most of the sale.

The last year I volunteered, there was a new person in charge of the volunteers.

When I showed up and started putting together boxes, she came up to me and said “what are you doing?”

“I’m putting together boxes.”

“You’re not on the list.”

“There’s a list? I’m just a volunteer.”

This is where a Karen kicks herself.

“Volunteers are required to work 8 hours in the garden every year, and I’ve never seen you before.”

This was news to me, having been doing the same thing for several years with no issues.

Seemed suspicious considering most of the volunteers were in their 70s or 80s.

I had encountered this type of person before, so I knew better than to try to debate policy.

“Well, okay,” I said, dropping the box I was putting together and walking to the back of the line of people waiting to get in.

I had only been there long enough to put about a dozen boxes together.

The stacks of unassembled boxes sat there and no one came to put them together.

After the tiny stack of boxes was gone, people had to put together their own boxes and they were ticked.

The line went really slow as every person had to stop and make their own box.

A minor inconvenience multiplied by a thousand people becomes a real problem.

I’m just sorry that the public had to bear the brunt of it.

Here is what folks are saying.

Satisfying indeed, my sprout.

Yes, but they also know how to tear out roots and kill bugs.

Just like how plants get to watch other plants die.

Bureaucracy needs to be dug into the soil.

Weird plant culture.

She was just trying to help.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.