Exhaustion

I don't think I said anything about it on my blog yet, but for this year, I'm working at the Calgary Stampede. My position, ironically, is floor supervisor at the Grandstand. This is my first year working at the stampede and I don't recall ever being in the grandstand before. My job is to ensure that the stands/vendors I'm in charge of, are running as smoothly as possible. Most of the staff have been working at the stampede for a couple years now, yet (here's the irony) I'm supposed to be their "superior". Truth be told, I don't really feel like their superior; besides having the ability to use a radio =P. All in all, we work side by side to make sure that things run smoothly!

So today marked Day 3 at work. I think I got the hang of my position and how my stand works. I don't really know my vendors as well since I don't go and try to sell snacks/booze/pop to the people sitting in the stands. Anyways, I realized how hard physical labour jobs are. I never would have imagined it to be this tough, and I'm a supervisor! I'm glad that I don't have to carry supply around. I have high respect for the people who get the supplies for my stations. It must be extremely exhausting to lug heavy foods/trays/bins under 25 degrees Celsuis weather (and higher! Today was 28 apparently!).

Pretty much, my day starts off with counting inventory. On the first day, it was quite slow, since there was a lot of stock and I had to go through them all (and I have one of the least amount of stations to look after... good thing I'm not on main!) After counting inventory, the other staff usually show up by now to help start up the stands/prepare vending trays. During this time, I usually help the stand set up. Afterwards, I usually work at the back of the stand, preparing drinks or passing hot dogs and such. Luckily for me, the staff at my stand are quite efficient at doing what they're doing (cashier, food wraper, etc).

At times, I also go check the vendors to see how they're doing. If either my stand or my vendors need supplies, I would radio down to someone to grab me some supplies. Usually, I get my supplies quickly, but sometimes it takes time. For example, it takes a while to get alcohol since they seem short on suppliers, yet have very high demands for their service... from my own point of view of course.

Once we're done for the day, I count inventory (starting yesterday, I actually got help from the other staff to do it- so it cuts my job down from 1 hour to about 15 minutes!)

Once that's done, I hand over the keys and radio to the next supervisor and trudge my way back home. I have to say that my feet are usually in great pain after each day, due to standing up for pretty much my entire shift (10-5:30). I don't regret working at the stampede though since it really taught me the value of money. It's definitely not like when I was teaching piano, where I could just sit there and critique my student's play.

Well I'm tired so a couple more minutes of relaxation and bed! =P