Today I was pitched on volunteering for a local crisis hotline. If you're feeling suicidal or threatened or whatnot, they're the trained (?), empathetic (??) professionals (?!) you call. I wasn't sure why I specifically (other than my volunteering at a dog park) was being pitched on this idea.
The crisis part, I'd be great at. The comforting people part? Not so much. "You can do better than me," I told them. Or god help us all.
"Hone your listening skills," says the flyer. "Contribute to your community. Experience the entire gamut of human emotion."
Listening skills and community, I'll grant you. But the entire gamut of human emotion, I call bullshit on. Unless people call the crisis hotline to say "Dude! I found 20 bucks!", I'm pretty sure the emotional range experienced is a pretty narrow band.