I don't really think anyone cares to know why I do what I do...in fact...it might scare a few to know the inner, deep, dark workings of my mind, my motivations, in essence, what makes me tick.
Don't worry. I'm not going to tell you that. In fact! I don't even know why I do what I do.
But I do know why I write.
I write because it is cathartic. Because it helps me rid the toxins of the day.
And I write because my sibs and me are often complete morons.
Well...I kind of think I have the "Midas Touch" when it comes to acting like a fool. Either people have this "foolishness" inside of them or I just turn people into complete fools. Jury's out.
As stated before, the entire month of June was devoted to day camp - preparing and carrying out two weeks of camp. Due to the cathartic nature of writing, I needed to blog more than ever. Due to my hectic schedule and love for sleep, I was unable to write.
So, I'm going to give you a little low-down on camp.
Week one: Things went fairly smooth. I had twist some arms to find a VOLUNTEER leader for one of the units, but I found a somewhat willing soul and no kids or parents had any complaints. The weather was wet at the beginning of the week and while the rest of the city got rain, we merely got worried about rain. Can't beat that. All in all, it was a nice week for day camp and the 80-something girls had fun which is the primary goal of the camp.
Week two: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? My nice, fairly uneventful week of camp suddenly became a crazy, heat-stroke of craziness. Literally. Ok, no one had heat stroke. BUT it was entirely possible when temperatures were in the upper 90's with heat indexes of 105+. That is no joke. Monday morning at 8:30, I was sweating buckets and choking on all the moisture in the air while I had parents sign their children in to camp. Needless to say, I wasn't surprised when the weather bureau issued a Heat Alert.
Apparently though one parent was. I remembered this parent from Monday morning and saw that while I was sweating buckets, he clearly looked like someone who had been parked in the front row at Sea World to see Shamu perform. He was that wet. And this man wanted to know why he wasn't contacted for a heat alert. My initial thought was to nearly say: Well, I when I saw you standing in line, I thought I was going to have to radio the nurse to bring the AED, but I bit my tongue. When he asked me why he wasn't called for a heat alert, I nearly cried from keeping laughing. Had this man lived under a rock? The whole weather community had told us the entire weekend that the Monday was going to be gruesome.
Assuming he couldn't possibly believe I'd call just for a heat alert, I asked him if his daughter went to the nurse. He told me no. I asked him if she complained of being sick or simply asked her leaders to speak to a parent. Again he said no.
I asked him how I would have known to call.
Now, this is the kicker - I had several people calling my cell phone on Monday to check on their children. I had several more pick their kids up early. My own mother even called to make sure I was drinking plenty of water. The previous week I had parents call to make sure I knew a thunderstorm was in effect and the certain storm had winds gusting up to 60 mph. My thought is that if this man REALLY cared, was REALLY a good, caring parent, he would've taken it upon himself to call and check on his daughters.
And then I found out that his daughter doesn't tell people when she's sick until she has literally gotten sick. Her unit leaders, two women that had neither met nor seen this child before, were simply supposed to know this about the girl.
Hmmm...
Right...
And that's when he told me that provisions needed to be made. He tried to argue with me about going inside. There was no "inside" to go into. Sure, I was at a college, but I had a contract and in that contract we only paid for the outdoor area we were occupying. And no, I do not believe the college was going to let 60+ kids into the BRAND NEW library for the week. If they would have, I would have hated to have seen that bill.
I was then told that if "provisions" couldn't be made, then camp should be canceled.
Right, buddy. I'll cancel camp and please you and maybe two other people and have 57 other people pissed at me, at least half that number relying on my camp for day care because both parents are working. Sure. I'll call them and tell them that because of your selfishness, I am going to fuck their plans for the week because if this camp is canceled, I KNOW they will not be able to find day care for their child with less than 24-hour notice.
And no. You're not getting you're money back. Plus, you admitted your daughter WANTED to come back, but you weren't going to let her come back.
You made that decision, my man, and I will not reward you for bugging me everyday while I signed kids in with parents who complimented me on the job I was doing and told me their kids were having fun despite the heat by giving you your money back. Had you wanted to keep your $50, you would've grown a working brain and thought...this is the Midwest...this is June...the weather might actually be hot! My daughter might not mind the heat, but I sure as hell will and will wreak havoc on a poor unsuspecting camp director who is poor because she works for an NPO and naively believes she can help kids grow up and not become the next reality-star train wreck, meth-head welfare case, or mother of 4 by the time high school is over. Pardon me for thinking I can change the future!
Okay...
That was...a bit of a rant...I feel better now though.
That was definitely the worst of the camp experience. For the most part, my two weeks looked like this:
Up at 5:00 am for the gym.
7:15 leave
8:00 arrive at camp (after a stop of the Franklin Street Donut Bank, the best donuts EVER!)
8:30 camp check in
9:15-3:45 circulate and make sure units are running smoothly.
4:00-4:30 check out kids
4:30 - 5:30 pick up stray supplies
I did yoga two nights, ran one night, and stayed for an overnight on both Wednesdays. That made Thursday fun, waking up after being all sweaty and nasty and not being able to show, simply being out and getting even sweatier and nastier as Thursday drug on. But, like I said, the kids had fun. And that's what it is all about!
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