I thought it would be fun to work at an amusement park, a fun summer job. Boy, was I wrong. I was told I was going to take orientation first, then start working, but my idea wasn’t what Sandy (the women in charge of the Games and Rides department) had planned. She showed me where to get my shirt, told me the ride I would be working at, took me to the ride, showed me how to work it, then left. So much for orientation. So, with no more than what Sandy told me, I was set out into the crowd of children to work. Sara, my supervisor, came over and had me sign some paperwork and politely asked me if I had any questions. Her wondering if I had any questions made me feel a little better about this job, more like they cared. Sara was nice and considerate towards the fact that this was my first day.
So, kids started coming up with their parents gradually. It was pretty simple--let the kids in, measure them with a pole to see if they could ride alone or if they needed a parent, get them on the train and buckled in, them off they went. Things seemed easy enough. As the day progressed, more and more kids came in line to the point where the train would be full. Again, no big deal, it's an amusement park. What was really the overwhelming part was the fact that I would work three to four hours before I would get a break. Standing in basically the same spot, pushing a button wile holding your foot on a petal gets annoying and even tiring--from standing still--after a while.
Finally, I was relieved. I got a half hour break, seems adequate, right? Well, I can only go to one shop to eat. Welcome to Basgetti’s pizza and pasta shop! My first day, I wasn’t sure about thw breaks, so I went in and bought some loganberry (for the record, not a good choice because it turns your tongue a red/purple color. I only remembered this after I bought it.) I wasn’t really hungry so I just bought the loganberry (which costs the discount price of $1.70). I sat there sipping my loganberry and listening to “Father Time's story time”. As I listened to the story, I suddenly felt sorry for the workers at Basgetti's because they had to listen to it every hour.
I sat there for a half hour, just relaxing, finally being able to sit down for the first time in over three hours. I still thought this job wasn’t so bad, and would be worth the money, but I still had 5 hours to go. So I went back to my post, less than excited to do so, but I dragged myself back anyway. Lucky for me, I got there just as my reliever had loaded everyone up. Perfect timing for me to get over there and stand on the petal and push the button. Great. It was pretty boring after the first few hours because things in the kiddie side of the park were starting to die down. I would get a few kids on the train at a time, no more gobs of kids all hyped up to go on the train.
Standing eventually got to me. I had made it to the point where I would get angry that the kids wanted to ride my stupid train. Every time I heard a kid say “I wanna ride the train!” I would turn away and scowl. I then turned back around, smile on my face, and helped the little angels onto the train. Of course, I would get the little ones who didn’t want to sit down, so I would have to tell them to sit, and if they didn’t I would have to stop the train. Lovely, my favourite.
Great, another break! Freedom! Well, I was starved by my next break, so I went to Basgetti’s and bought a piece of pizza for $2 (again, discounted). I ate it pretty quickly because I was starved by then. The only problem was I still had 20-25 minutes left of break. Now what? So, I just sat there until it was a decent time to come back from break. Back to work.
An hour or so before closing time, there would be only a kid or two at a time, thank goodness! I couldn’t deal with little kids anymore. But there were times when no one would ride, and these are what killed me because then time would seem to past so slowly.
Well, then my loganberry from earlier began to really sink in. I had to pee so bad, but I had no more breaks. So, whenever there were no kids riding, I would pace. There would be 5-10 minute intervals between riders where I would just pace--making it seem like I was just bored rather than I had to pee really badly. I finally saw Sara--the kiddie park supervisor--walking to the rides and shutting them down for the night. I couldn’t be happier. But of course, a mom and her little kid come up asking to ride. I couldn’t say we were closed yet, considering that Sara didn’t say I could leave, so I got the people on, strapped them in and quickly went to turn the ride on. The train, which is supposed to go around three times, seemed like it was going slower than it had all day. I watched as it slowly made it’s way around the first time. Then, as it came past me, the women said that around once was enough. I quickly made sure that’s what she said then took my foot off the petal, and let them out. Sara told me what to do, as for my shirt, and the new schedule, then I was free at last!
First day in a nutshell: “Please sit down when the train is moving!”
First day in a nutshell: “Please sit down when the train is moving!”
