What Summer Brings

Summer is the busiest time of year for the Chicago Park District.  For me, the season can also be the most frustrating in terms of work. 

The gym at LaFollette Park is closed this week for the break between the spring and the summer sessions.  I'm hoping it will be a quiet week.  But I'm not looking forward to what I'm seeing on the horizon.  Summer camp starts next week which mean kids will be in my gym trashing it:  dropping food on the floor, playing around with the equipment, messing with the bulletin boards.  My complaints in the past have been dismissed as well as met with indignation.  I'm still trying to figure out the lack of understanding regarding the very real possibility of kids getting hurt because of playing around on the equipment. 

The summer kids are NOT well supervised.  The first full summer I was there, adults made up the seasonal camp staff.  For the past couple of years or so, teenagers have been employed to watch the kids, and no, it hasn't been working so well.  Very few of the teens have been responsible, and the younger kids who attend the camp give the teens grief.  They look at the camp counselors as older siblings who aren't worthy to be authority figures.  Some of the staff involved with the camp are going to be ticked because it looks like I'm going to have to scream, yell, and hurt some feelings to get my points across. 

I have an adult -- I believe the guy's name is Jose -- and he wants to take the adult class and bring a couple of his brothers along.  Since the attendance in the adult class has always been thin, this seems like a good development, right?  Hold up, not so fast.  Jose told me he wants to be a professional boxer.  Then one of his older relatives dropped by to inquire about the program.  "An hour and a half is not enough time.  They need to work out for two to three hours," I was told.  The park district doesn't deal with professional boxing and the gyms are only open for a few hours during the day.  Jose asked if he and his brothers could come in early, but I pointed out that was not possible because of the youth classes.  Judging by the look of disbelief on Jose's face, I might have a battle on my hands regarding usage of the gym.

I saw a report on the news last night that claimed that crime in the area where the field house is has gone down.  I found the statistics hard to believe.  Shootings tend to increase, and the number of assaults goes up this time of year.  Items, regardless of whether they belong to the park district, the customers, or the staff, get stolen more often.  Every year, the supervisor and the staff find ourselves escorting people acting up inside the field house to the door.  I expect more of the same. 

Summer used to be my favorite season.