A Volunteer saved the day…and the pages to my manuscript
Yesterday, I ran into a frustrating Word document issue; it made me want to abandon my project and spend the afternoon eating all things regrettable and then curling up into a cashew-shape.
Before I reached out for help, I attempted to be self-sufficient and fix my problem. The issue? All of my Word documents lost their page numbers.
As a writer, I’m quite fond of page numbers.
I was horrified to discover that all my tables of contents, the gatekeepers of page numbers, had succumbed to a beauty makeover.
While they were chopped off like Pamela Anderson’s micro bangs, my French-bobbed indices were not nearly as cute.
My attempt to resolve my snarled-up coiffure: I removed a few add-ins, ran a repair utility, re-installed Office 365, and then restarted my laptop with fingers-crossed (not so easy, try it).
Hmmm. Rather than rectifying the issue, I now had a few more complications to address. Thankfully, my husband recommended that I reach out to the Microsoft community. I was apprehensive, I figured with my amateur-level knowledge, I’d be overwhelmed with technical gobbledygook.
But then, a volunteer stepped in.
They didn’t ask for anything in return. They simply offered help with patience, clarity, and kindness. Within minutes, my formatting chaos was untangled, and I could breathe again.
And they didn’t snicker or eyeroll at my calamity. Well, if they did, I certainly deserved it.
The fix? OMG, this is very embarrassing…I had unknowingly switched my document view in Word to Web Layout. Yep, that pretty much will remove all page numbers in a heartbeat.
This little exercise reminded me how powerful volunteers are—not just in big, obvious ways like food banks or disaster relief, but in small, often invisible moments: fixing a glitch, guiding someone through confusion, making a stranger feel seen and supported.
Volunteers are proof that generosity doesn’t need a paycheck. They change lives quietly, ripple by ripple.
To all volunteers: thank you for the time, heart, and care you give so freely.
You don’t just fix problems. You restore faith.
Filed under: #mvp.microsoft.com #VolunteerAppreciation #EverydayHeroes
