Old lady Shopping

I started my volunteer shopping 3 weeks ago. It was meant to be me putting something back into the community and getting out the house.
Doing shopping is something I have to do everyday for myself so why not pick up a few more things for someone else while I am at it.

It seems so simple - I go round and fetch the shopping list along with the money then go do the shopping and bring it back. I don't have to put it away for her but I might as well to finish the job...

It has turned out to be a lot more than that though and I don't know if I am cut out for that. The organiser did say that she picked the old lady because she lives near me and I could give her a bit more of my time but I have come to realise I just can't.

This last time was horrible and I realised I just don't have the common sense it would take for this. I got to her house around 9.30 and the house was full of gas. She obviously couldn't smell it at all but it was choking me as I walked in the door. I went to the cooker and sure enough, the grill had been turned on and not lit. I turned it off straight away and went to open some windows but they were all locked. I couldn't find the key for them and only one window would open.
I thought that it would be fine as the home help would be arriving but this one day the Home Help wasn't coming until later so I had to sit with the lady and wait until the Home Help arrived.

At about 10am a man from the Emergency gas service arrived because the man in the flat upstairs had called them when he smelled gas. He came in with this big probe thing and went round the whole flat. He told me that the levels of gas were at explosion levels and had anyone struck a match, it would have gone up.

Confession time - I did strike a match. Totally not thinking for one minute that what I was doing was the stupidest thing in the world, I turned on the hob ring to boil a kettle to make the old lady a cup of coffee. She wanted a coffee and I wanted to look helpful. Hoe Idiotic am I??? I could have killed myself, the old lady and half the street!!

I was so relieved when the Home help arrived at about 10.35 that I couldn't get out there quick enough. I intend to email Charlotte the organiser and tell her that I can no longer be a volunteer. This is too much for me and although I thought I would be able to do it, I am just not up to being an unpaid social worker.