2001-06-18
Ruminations on the new job, posted at 11:22 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com The summer job I have supervising the summer sports camps here at Michigan State University is interesting. It's my second summer in a row in the same supervisory position, and I'm sort of regretting doing the job again.It's the sort of loud, stressful job that has its great moments, but ultimately is probably more stress than its worth in terms of compensation. I have to make hundreds of decisions in what seem like seconds, and all of these decisions directly affect the safety of hundreds of campers and 60 folks that I supervise. I've spent the last two days thinking about how little I get paid for what I do. I also feel bad, because the folks I'm supervising get paid much less for doing what seems to be more leg work. I feel like the foreman at a factory, getting paid much more than my supevisees who are doing more "work." But most of the guilt just has to do with the fact that the whole salary scale is much less than it should be.
The job is also stressful because I have an erratic relationship with my supervisor. When I love him, I really love him. When I don't, I really don't. We don't always mesh well. I'll leave it at that. We have our disagreements. I worked with him last summer and knew what I was getting into, so I shouldn't complain.
The camps run for seven weeks, and I get paid for nine weeks total when you factor in the training we've done over the last two weeks. I'm on duty two out of every three nights, which isn't too bad at all, to be honest. I had the night off today, and spent the day relaxing, working out, and having breakfast with my grandparents. Since I only work at nights (from about 6 until 1am or so), I will have to find something productive to do with my time during the day. I don't want to spend the summer sleeping in until noon and playing on the computer. I should at least go to the movies or something. Seriously, I need to get on this whole process of filling out applications. With all the posturing I've done about Baltimore seeming to be the place for me, I still haven't filled out an application. I've been conditionally offered a job there, but still need to get the damn application in. And I'm still far from sure that it is the place for me.
I may end up looking for another part-time job to do during the day. UPS is hiring and paying well, so that's an option I suppose. Last summer while having this job, I was taking classes so I didn't have as much free time as I do now. I'm not used to free time and don't tend to make very good use of it, so this summer will show me whether or not I can in fact use my time wisely. As of now, I'm just really enjoying the fact that I have a bit of break from grading papers and planning lessons. But I already have a cloud of guilt forming over my head over not making better use of the time I've had.
Meanwhile, I'm feeling like the summer is slipping away before my eyes. My friends had all these grand plans - camping, whiteriver water rafting, going to the beach - but I've been landlocked all summer. This is my last summer at MSU with my friends and my last one while I'm living in Michigan, and feel the need to take advantage of it. But my Sunday workload makes weekend getaways shortened, and the job in general doesn't allow much time off. I miss the Monday through Friday, 7am-4pm schedule that I've become accostomed to.
As I was writing this, a frantic parent who somehow had my home phone number called me about her son. He had been taunted all of camp and had just called home crying. The kid was so distraught that he told the kids his grandmother died so it would make it seem as if it were okay for him to cry. I promised the mother, who was on the verge of tears herself, that I'd go see him. Shawn was indeed crying and getting picked on incessantly. As soon as I came and got him, he calmed down immediately. I moved him to a different room and gave him my number so he can call me if anything happens. He's a neat kid who got caught in a 3-on-1 situation in his suite. So I guess this job does have its moments; I now get to go to sleep with a clear conscience knowing that I helped a 12-year-old kid have a better time at football camp. But is it worth truncating my summer or the lousy pay? Time will tell.