Signing up to volunteer for the photo and leaving before the work starts isn’t service. It’s a costume.

Showing up for the visible part of a good deed and leaving before the actual work starts turns the people you came for into scenery. The help was supposed to be the point and the picture was supposed to be a side effect. Flip those two and the whole thing hollows out, even when nobody says anything. The organizers always know, and so do the people who stayed.

Next time you sign up for something, find out which hour is the boring one and put yourself in it. Carrying boxes at the end counts more than standing near the front at the start.