Article: The Usher verses the Member by Nima [Ep. 2]

Welcome to my corner. Coughhhhs, Hope you enjoyed reading the first episode? Yes i think. So last week the member had an encounter, let’s take a little twist to the usher’s story. Make sure you have cup of coffee as i take you on this journey. It’s ya girl Nima.

THE USHER

Before I could make up my mind on what action to take, I was already grabbing him by the arm with my right hand. “Grace oh! Today is the day you get slapped in church”, the voice in my head taunted me. All I wanted to do was draw his attention to the man outside the door being restrained and beckoning for his attention. I noticed the rip on his trouser at the same time my mouth opened to defend my action, and, “Your trouser”, was what came out of my mouth.

I saw the look on his face and was once more convinced I really might be getting a slap from a fine boy. Thankfully I wasn’t the only one who saw the rip because I think he would have blamed me for it. I watched as the young man walked out to attend to all the matters plaguing him and all I could think was, “chai! See fine boy with tear tear trouser”.

As an usher, being a human mannequin for direction, with a plastic smile, was my responsibility. I had always admired ushers with their clean and primped look, their relaxed and friendly disposition. For me they seemed like land hostesses with the mission to make you feel important. This was my mindset before I joined the ushering department in my church.

You notice a lot of things standing and watching people coming and going. Church members fell into five categories; the “speed-walkers”, the “Friendlies”, the “boss”, the “follow come” and lastly the “back huggers”.

The Speed-walkers are always in a hurry, they burst into church speed walking, not because they are conscious of time, but because they don’t want any sitting direction from ushers.

The Friendlies have friends everywhere. They come into church with their hands waving to one friend from back to front and keep moving around greeting people until the ushers lose track of directing them to a sit.

The Boss come in quietly, head high, meeting you straight in the eye. They are calm enough to follow an usher’s direction and sometimes in the same calm manner they can refuse a sitting position for the one they prefer.

The Follow-come always comes with other people, so they must sit together.

Finally, the Back huggers are allergic to front row sits. They are comfortable with seats close to the exit or the aisle. It’s almost as if they are ready to leave from the moment they come in.

In my first few months as an usher I gained the reputation “headmistress” because I once vehemently insisted a person follow my sitting direction. This is the story, a middle aged typical speed walker bust into church one Sunday morning and headed straight for sits reserved for invited music ministers. I instinctively ran after him and this same impulsive right hand touched his arm while I tried to catch his face with a smile. “Sir, this seat has been reserved”, I said. He looked me over and rested his eye on my hand still touching his arm and I quickly withdrew it with more smiling that hurt my cheeks. What followed was his slightly raised voice hammering on my lack of human relations and my complete lack of respect and approach. He went ahead to demand why I had touched him and if I was aware of his identity. Of course this was already blown out of proportion as I also tried to defend my action while insisting the man change his sit. Luckily it was still the early hours before workers meeting, so only familiar faces drew near to help settle the atmosphere and placate the man who in his outburst had revealed it was his first time in church.  The meeting with the chief usher at the end of that service was unavoidable as he tried to encourage and reprimand me at the same time.

I have definitely changed after that incident and created a resolution of doing just three things, point, smile and say welcome to church. I had decided to leave any form of confrontation to other ushers, until today.

With the drama that took place today, I already know I will be having another meeting with the chief usher. I just hope he understands that this time around I only grabbed the man’s hand to save him from dying from embarrassment, but as I caught the eye of the chief usher looking at me, all I could think of was “where can I find proof that someone died of embarrassment?” or am I really called to do this usher business, me I cannot come and go and kill myself o.

In conclusion.
We are all doing and trying to give our best in the place of service.. sometimes their will be frictions and misunderstandings, things that will happen to make us doubt our current stand, our capacity, our ability, aspirations or decisions, that’s a fact. However, as quickly as the drama fades lets erase them from memory, lets not build monuments on temporary issues.

You might be the member in the story who for some reason started out late and no matter what efforts you make things seem to be unraveling in a negative way… i just want to remind you that its just a phase. When the day ends just as the man would have to let go of his torn garment for something better, you will and should let go of the negative experience for something better..

You might be the usher who’s trying her best in the thing she loves and contemplating giving up due to her perceived deficiency, i’ll say this to you, if you are passionate about what you doing, don’t give up on it, keep at it, you might have flaws now, but soon enough you will perfect your art. However, If its not something u are passionate about, don’t waste any time trying to mk it what it isn’t and don’t be afraid to drop it in pursuit of what you truly love…

Usher? Member? Which one are you??‍♀