"About"

Yesterday I chaperoned another basketball tournament. It is always an adventure. We met at the local train station at 7:30am with the goal of returning by 6pm. This trip required one train line change and a ten minute walk to the venue. When we got on the first train I asked how many kids we had with us. No one knew. We had both the boys' team and girls' team. (The coach was travelling seperately with the equipment.) One of the moms said there were 9 boys and we were picking up 4 more at a station en route. Great. How many girls? I was told to ask the team captain. She said 15.

I usually position myself at the end of the group so I can pick up stragglers. This way, I only have to worry about keeping up as opposed to where we are going. (I am a strong believer in playing to my strengths!) We changed trains and I thought I should count to make sure we had everyone. I got the 9 boys but came up with 16 girls! When I mentioned this to one of the other chaperones, she said that the captain was very "about". (When someone is "about" it means that they are not a stickler for details. If the answer is "in the ballpark" then that's fine.) The coach is also very "about" as was demonstrated at the closing ceremony when I asked if some of the girls had already gone home. He was surprised that I noticed! He said that 2 had left with their parents. He told me that I was the only one who asked about numbers!! I now realize that I really have no clue as to what chaperones are supposed to be doing.

Right before we left to return home, one of the other coaches (an American) told me that it would probably be okay if I got "about" everyone home.