I know that rejection is a fact of life. You can’t always get what you want. Yes I stole that from the Rolling Stones. But there are some things in life that you think are given. Free refills (if you are from the South), wearing flip flops around Christmas time (again if you are from the South…or California), and Google’s strange ability to ubiquitously helpful. And until a few days ago, I thought that volunteering belonged in that category. Until I received this email.

Dear Ms.Mason,

Thank you for completing the UNV application. Given that the minimum age to serve abroad as a UNV volunteer is 25, we are unable to offer you an assignment. We encourage you to reapply at a later stage and in the meantime to check our links to other organizations that promote or are linked to volunteering at http://www.unvolunteers.org/volunteers/options/abroad/otherops.htm

If you wish to engage in sustainable human development activities via the Internet, join UNV’s Online volunteering service at www.onlinevolunteering.org

You may also wish to visit the WorldVolunteerWeb at http://www.WorldVolunteerWeb.org to obtain a wealth of information on volunteerism worldwide. To be informed about volunteer news, events and organizations, subscribe to the WorldVolunteerWeb.org newsletter at
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/dynamic/cfapps/interact/subscribe/

With our best wishes for success in your endeavours,

UN Volunteers
At the Service of Peace and Development
http://www.unv.org

At the service of peace and development. Now, I could understand if I was rejected for something related to a skill. But simply because I am not 25? Since when did the UN start practicing age discrimination? I thought that was reserved for American rental car companies. Apparently I was wrong. It seems that youthful goodwill is not accepted in service of peace and development.