I kept meaning to write a post about my summer job and all of its duties. Mostly I want to do this because during the summer I get to join a large group of people whose daily lives consist of cleaning up after people. I was “Maintenance 1;” I worked every other week and weekend, alternatively. I came in at 8:00AM, vacuumed the big pool and baby pool, pulled twelve mats into the locker room, made sure no garbage was anywhere (locker rooms, bathrooms, the deck, the grass), kept the bathrooms smelling clean, and swept the pool house. There were probably other things I did, like mow the lawn or clean up brush clippings. I got done at 8:30PM!
Here’s the good thing though. After I cleaned in the morning, I basically just hung out and talked to the lifeguards for the rest of the day. I got to read a lot of books and magazines, and it’s not that hard telling people the rules and making sure all the kids are being good. Seriously, the only bad part was the hours. I don’t mind doing manual labor and getting a tan doesn’t hurt!
What sucks is that people leave their messes everywhere. And then, after I’ve cleaned it all up, they do it again the next day. Then the lifeguards don’t realize how much you do amd say things like “Let’s stay late and clean this place top to bottom!”
Hold up! What do you think I do in the morning and at night when you guys aren’t around? They only saw the place when it was unclean after dozens of kids had been through it.
What’s the point of this post? I learned a lot about what it feels like to be a maintenance worker. I also learned that bleach will kill the smell of pee in the bathroom.