Revised:  06/28/2008

The other day a fellow staff member greeted me by asking, "Have everything under control?" and my response was, "As well as can be expected when you are dealing with 500 different personalities".
That got me to thinking back to the day about a month ago when one of my elderly volunteers (I'll call her Joan) began to pull down her pants in my office. Yes, you read that right. I was on the phone at the time, so I couldn't shout "Stop!" or "What are you doing?" but, fortunately, the vehement waving of my hand in the halt position was enough to stop her before too much skin was disclosed (or should I say disclothesed).
You see, about a week before, Joan had been the victim of a hit-and-run bicycle accident, a traumatic event for anyone, but for an elderly person who lives alone, a catastrophic and unsettling experience indeed. She said that one side of her body was completely bruised, but, aside from the expected residual aches and pains, she was not seriously injured. I thought that I had expressed an adequate amount of sympathy toward her, but I guess it was important to her to reveal her bruises to me (which was her reason for dropping her pants) to prove how much she had truly suffered or to show me what a "trooper" she was to be back to volunteering so soon.
After wondering in what other profession (aside from a medical practice) a client would have no qualms about undressing in front of her/his supervisor in the middle of a public space, and after asking myself what I had done to deserve this, I came to a realization. In order for Joan to feel comfortable doing what she did, either she had to have a high level of trust in me, or be on the verge of losing her capacity for rational thought. In either case, I choose to interpret her act as a tribute to all of us who are DVS's.
I am sure that each and every one of you can tell a similar story about some bizarre happening involving a volunteer. We have to deal with situations like this all the time. It is one of the things that makes our profession unique. The "500 personalities" that we have to contend with force us to be ready to handle any and all situations with grace, tact, style, and professionalism, all without ever jeopardizing the dignity of the protagonist (even when she has her pants down). So give yourselves a pat on the back for the daily challenges you meet, the curve balls you catch, and the bullets you dodge. And the next time you are about to utter the words, "Now I've seen it all," just remember that you probably haven't.