To keep volunteering or to quit?
I've been gone from this wonderful forum for three years. When I left, I had been lurking in a different forum - one where I wasn't even a registered user. I got disgusted by the sexism in that other forum and decided to avoid anything bike related online. I'm hopefully back for a while!
In real life I've been volunteering (and sometimes even getting paid) at a bike co-op. I've become quite skilled at helping people fix their own bikes. I've "grown" a lot during my time there. However, I've also become very burnt out. A year ago, I already reduced my involvement with the co-op. I'm thinking it is time now to fully withdraw.
The mix of people coming into the co-op has changed over the years. I'd say there are now far fewer college students who are interested in bikes. There are more people who need to fix their bike but don't want to learn anything. This means the mix of patrons is less fun to work with. Also lately our staff has had to deal with repeated vandalism and theft.
A shift at the co-op is only a few hours. However, working there has always dominated my entire day. Many of those days in theory I could have been out on a bike ride. But instead I was helping other people with their bikes. Actually, I've hardly even been on a bike the last two years.
A few years ago, a transit bus destroyed a multi-purpose bike of mine. I started building up multiple bikes to replace it. You'd think that with access to a full bike workshop they'd all be done. However, I haven't wanted to spend additional time at the co-op. I now have four plus projects here that haven't been touched in a year.
So, is it time for me to move on?