People are always talking about the crazy things kids say, but the words that have come out of my mouth since I became a teacher are what are surprising to me. Here are some examples just from this school year. Seriously.
1. "How did you even carry 200 candy bars in here without a bag?....Never mind. No I do not want to buy any. Thank you."
2. "Don't touch his face. That's how pink eye is spread."
3. "Quit stuffing things down your pants."
4. "Do not get up during reading time unless you are bleeding or vomiting."
5. "If I see that bottle of pop out one more time, I will take it and enjoy it with my lunch."
6. "I don't care if the music is on or not...you are neither deaf nor a robot so wires shouldn't be hanging out of your ears."
7. "Does that eraser really taste good? I'll try to get actual rubber-flavored ones next time."
8. "It's called Choose Your Own Adventure, not Choose Your Own Sound Effects."
9. "Using the restroom is not a team sport."
10. "You aren't gonna catch any Pokemon here. We're too far away from the park. Don't worry though, you'd never beat my level anyway. Hand me your phone."
11. "Unless there's some hidden person helping you read under there I suggest you keep your head above the table."
12. "Stop putting sticky notes on your face. Save it for art class."
13. "Does anyone remember what I was just said?.... (silence).... Yeah, me neither. Let's move on then."
14. "I love your shoes, but could you put them on a less bright setting...yeah the red will work."
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Saturday, August 27, 2016
7 Things I Learned Working at a Concession Stand
Last summer I worked at Red Lobster and wrote a "what I learned" blog post about that and then I have written one about my full time job as a teacher. This summer, I worked as a cashier and then a stand lead for over 100 baseball games. This is what I learned.
1. People go crazy for a sale. On dollar Thursdays, 3 times as many people would show up just to eat hot dogs for $1. I saw people order 12 hotdogs for just 2 people. I saw groups of people fight over hot dogs when I brought out a fresh batch. The last Thursday I worked, I scooped popcorn into dollar bags non-stop for a whole hour and never had more than one unsold bag sitting on the counter at a time. It's pure madness. Yesterday, it wasn't our usual sale, but we were selling Skittles for half price. That is $2 instead of the ridiculous $4 it starts out as (more on that in #2). People were going crazy over Skittles, usually our least popular item.
2. The prices are ridiculous...and we know it. Selling regular size candy that is probably 75 cents at a convenience store for $4 is just plain wrong. But I blame the crazy customers that fork over that amount of cash more than the managers at the ballpark. If I wasn't working there and getting one free meal per day, I wouldn't be buying much of anything. One scoop of Dip N' Dots for $7? No thanks. One time, a new substitute manager came in and asked me what the best food in the park was. I recommended our barbecue nachos and mentioned they were the best deal too (most food for your money). Later, he came back and told me I was right and they would have to up the price next year. He's right, people will buy it for even more than $9.
3. There is a big difference between French fries and waffle fries. I am not a big fry person myself, but I now know that these things can stir up some big emotions. We changed our type of fries a few times in the year and got big reactions. One guy dumped a whole basket of waffle fries on the ground in front of me and asked for my manager when I told him those were the only kind we had. Evidently they weren't "French fries" as we advertised. Another guy yelled at me because he "came to the game assuming he'd get waffle fries and now he didn't want to be here anymore." No joke.
4. I learned to work with all kinds of people. Not just unhappy customers, but also employees of all kinds. As a stand lead, I knew my job would be completely different every night depending on my crew. Some people handle high stress situations very well. Some have complete meltdowns. Some people are super organized and clean. Others will trash the place before the end of the night. Some need lots and lots of direction and some want to do it on their own (or tell you how to do it). I do think I learned a lot about managing all of these personalities and hopefully this will help me in ventures later in my life.
5. We throw out a lot of food. It was super unfortunate. My job as a lead was to keep an eye on inventory and make sure there wasn't too much waste or that we didn't run out, but sometimes you can't predict these things. There were a few days in which I personally dumped a full pan of hot dogs into the trash. I offered them to everyone I knew first, trust me, but leftover hot dogs aren't the most appealing item.
6. I am so sick of Fairbury hot dogs, Colby Ridge popcorn, nachos, pretzels, and chicken tenders that I think I'll go a year without eating any of them.
7. I learned to stand up for myself. I'm not very good at telling people when I'm upset or when I need something, but this year I spoke up for myself and was able to get a raise out of the deal.
Did I work way too much this summer? Yes. But I made some money for student loans and learned some lessons along the way.
1. People go crazy for a sale. On dollar Thursdays, 3 times as many people would show up just to eat hot dogs for $1. I saw people order 12 hotdogs for just 2 people. I saw groups of people fight over hot dogs when I brought out a fresh batch. The last Thursday I worked, I scooped popcorn into dollar bags non-stop for a whole hour and never had more than one unsold bag sitting on the counter at a time. It's pure madness. Yesterday, it wasn't our usual sale, but we were selling Skittles for half price. That is $2 instead of the ridiculous $4 it starts out as (more on that in #2). People were going crazy over Skittles, usually our least popular item.
2. The prices are ridiculous...and we know it. Selling regular size candy that is probably 75 cents at a convenience store for $4 is just plain wrong. But I blame the crazy customers that fork over that amount of cash more than the managers at the ballpark. If I wasn't working there and getting one free meal per day, I wouldn't be buying much of anything. One scoop of Dip N' Dots for $7? No thanks. One time, a new substitute manager came in and asked me what the best food in the park was. I recommended our barbecue nachos and mentioned they were the best deal too (most food for your money). Later, he came back and told me I was right and they would have to up the price next year. He's right, people will buy it for even more than $9.
3. There is a big difference between French fries and waffle fries. I am not a big fry person myself, but I now know that these things can stir up some big emotions. We changed our type of fries a few times in the year and got big reactions. One guy dumped a whole basket of waffle fries on the ground in front of me and asked for my manager when I told him those were the only kind we had. Evidently they weren't "French fries" as we advertised. Another guy yelled at me because he "came to the game assuming he'd get waffle fries and now he didn't want to be here anymore." No joke.
4. I learned to work with all kinds of people. Not just unhappy customers, but also employees of all kinds. As a stand lead, I knew my job would be completely different every night depending on my crew. Some people handle high stress situations very well. Some have complete meltdowns. Some people are super organized and clean. Others will trash the place before the end of the night. Some need lots and lots of direction and some want to do it on their own (or tell you how to do it). I do think I learned a lot about managing all of these personalities and hopefully this will help me in ventures later in my life.
5. We throw out a lot of food. It was super unfortunate. My job as a lead was to keep an eye on inventory and make sure there wasn't too much waste or that we didn't run out, but sometimes you can't predict these things. There were a few days in which I personally dumped a full pan of hot dogs into the trash. I offered them to everyone I knew first, trust me, but leftover hot dogs aren't the most appealing item.
6. I am so sick of Fairbury hot dogs, Colby Ridge popcorn, nachos, pretzels, and chicken tenders that I think I'll go a year without eating any of them.
7. I learned to stand up for myself. I'm not very good at telling people when I'm upset or when I need something, but this year I spoke up for myself and was able to get a raise out of the deal.
Did I work way too much this summer? Yes. But I made some money for student loans and learned some lessons along the way.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
The Rest is Still Unwritten...
On my way to the first day of school this year, I turned on the radio to find the song "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. I hadn't heard the song in ages and turned it up and sang it on my way. It seemed like such an appropriate song for a first day, with lyrics like "staring at the blank page before you" and "today is where your book begins." It put me in a good mood.
Strangely enough, I have heard that song now two more times on the radio this week. It is a song from 2004, so this is very unusual, but somehow it keeps reminding me that each new day is unexplored and full of possibilities. In a chapter of my life when a lot of things are changing such as friends growing apart and my parents moving to Arizona and my sister going back to college, it sometimes feels like the future is a bit unknown and scary.
But that is the beauty of it isn't it? Anything can happen. I can start a new job, move any place I want, take up a new hobby, meet a new person, learn something new. These things can happen everyday and as long as I "live [my] life with arms wide open." Some things end and some things begin and you don't know when they will. "The pen's in my hand. Ending unplanned." And that's the way we should live.
On a personal note, for my family and friends that keep up with this blog, I have started teaching my second year at Park Middle School. I switched to teaching exclusively Reading instead of both Reading and English. So far, I love the smaller classes and more individualized attention I can give to my students. I am also attending Arizona State University online for a Master's Degree in English as a Second Language starting this fall. I moved up to a townhouse in the Highlands of Lincoln that my parents bought this summer and Bowser and I love it. I am very excited for this year and all the yet unwritten opportunities.
Strangely enough, I have heard that song now two more times on the radio this week. It is a song from 2004, so this is very unusual, but somehow it keeps reminding me that each new day is unexplored and full of possibilities. In a chapter of my life when a lot of things are changing such as friends growing apart and my parents moving to Arizona and my sister going back to college, it sometimes feels like the future is a bit unknown and scary.
But that is the beauty of it isn't it? Anything can happen. I can start a new job, move any place I want, take up a new hobby, meet a new person, learn something new. These things can happen everyday and as long as I "live [my] life with arms wide open." Some things end and some things begin and you don't know when they will. "The pen's in my hand. Ending unplanned." And that's the way we should live.
On a personal note, for my family and friends that keep up with this blog, I have started teaching my second year at Park Middle School. I switched to teaching exclusively Reading instead of both Reading and English. So far, I love the smaller classes and more individualized attention I can give to my students. I am also attending Arizona State University online for a Master's Degree in English as a Second Language starting this fall. I moved up to a townhouse in the Highlands of Lincoln that my parents bought this summer and Bowser and I love it. I am very excited for this year and all the yet unwritten opportunities.
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