Monday, June 20, 2005
ANOTHER DAY OF WORKING AT THE SPEEDWAY TRACK
Saturday I spent another long day at the Race Track. Doors opened at 7 a. m. so we had to be there at 6 a. m. This time we were assigned to Gate 3 – a walk-in gate. At first I was a little disappointed to be at this gate. The last time I worked at the track I observed that this gate was not very busy all day long. I thought that Gate 2 where the majority of the cars entered was much busier and much more enjoyable as far as the work.
I may have been wrong in my previous observation, I just don’t know. But I do know that last Saturday this gate was very busy. It was enjoyable working there with 7 other people from our church. The Speedway officials told us that they had over 90 volunteers that day from various church and other non-profit organizations.
We took turns doing various tasks at the gate and had numerous breaks from our posts. Some of the time I stood at a table and inspected back packs, coolers, and other carry-in containers. We were looking for glass and anything else “suspicious”. Except for any glass containers, what was considered“ suspicious” was pretty much left up to us as the “inspectors”. Everyone was cooperative. I had a few people who had to throw away unopened bottles of beer. Some chose to just throw them away but some stood there and drank the bottles empty!
Part of the time I took tickets or inspected passes to be sure they were entering with the correct day pass. Much of the time I stood with others from our church and handed out programs (until we ran out) and kept people from walking on the ramps where the vehicles drove and got people to use the sidewalk. It was surprising the number of people who wanted to walk in the street rather than on the sidewalk!
During breaks there were qualifying of cars to watch and also a few races were held Saturday. The big race (United States Grand Prix, of the Formula 1 cars) was supposed to be Sunday. It turned out to be an embarrassing experience as 14 of the 20 drivers boycotted the race over some controversy about the safety of the Michelin tires. So everybody is angry and upset and fans are demanding a refund.
But Saturday was good. It was perfect weather. We got to deal with a lot of people from other countries. It was interesting to hear the different languages being spoken. Some could not speak any English. Many spoke very broken English.
It was also interesting to see those who chose to wear their native clothing. Some of the men from my church couldn’t believe that Scottish men wear those “skirts”, which were really kilts.
During lunch break I again had a “Brickyard Burger” which is a very large and very thick hamburger. It was good. I should have stopped there but I didn’t. Located a short distance from the gate where we worked they were cooking those huge turkey legs on the open grill. After smelling those things cooking all day, (they are one of my favorite foods) I yielded about 3 p. m. and had a huge leg. Was it good!
So it was a long day (up at 4:30 a. m. and back home at 6 p. m.) but it was enjoyable work and very enjoyable working with folks from our church.
And the Speedway personnel complimented us highly on our work ethic. They had to almost insist and beg us to take breaks. Some groups (so they said) they have to continually “prod” to get them to do what they are supposed to do. It was a good witness.
August 6th for the Brickyard 400 is our last opportunity to work this year. Anyone “out there” want to join me at the Track? You are welcome. You don’t have to be from our church. Just put a comment on this Blog or if you have my address, just email me, call me, someway let me know you’d like to join me at the Track.
Jim
posted by jim 4:30 PM 0 comments
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