ENGLISH [NCERT] UNIT QUE [4M]

I don’t agree that volunteering becomes headache. It becomes headache only when we have expectations from it. We, as human beings expect appreciation or reward for everything that we do. And if we don’t get it, we become irritated, and take the work as a burden. In the story, Jerome’s voluntary work becomes a headache for him because he had expectations from his friends. He wanted to satisfy himself by becoming their boss. When he didn’t get the expected response, it became a cause of headache for him.

The author Jerome volunteered his expertise in packing. He just wanted to act as a boss and superintend them. But they misunderstood him and made him do the entire packing. If I had been in place of Jerome, I would not have accepted the work just to boss over them or just to show off my skill. I would have accepted the work to help them without any expectations.

Yes, I think Jerome accepted the work of packing just to show off his skill. His intention was not to pack the things voluntarily, it was an intention to superintend his friends. He wanted to act as their boss. It is human nature. But his friends were smarter. They sat leisurely and watched him doing the packing. It irritated Jerome.