At Least I'm Still Teal

I’m currently working as a custodian for The Denver School of the Arts. I’ve been chronicling my experiences through social media and this blog post. I put a lot of my own complaints and frustrations down, primarily to accurately portray my true experiences. No filter. There are good days of course. One day, this could be sort of a memoir.

I refer to myself as The Teal Fairy because this is a character that I’ve created. I hope to one day write about The Teal Fairy going back to school to protect those that have the potential to grow and flourish. Schools need more fairies over firearms to ensure the safety of the youth. I also use The Teal Fairy persona as my way of expressing myself creatively outside of the written word.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!

Day Five Hundred & Eighty-three: 4/21/2025

You know what I hate seeing more than anything else? Piss on the floor. Especially when it’s right next to the toilet. So, someone made the conscious decision to just piss on the floor? Yeah, okay cool! I’m so grateful that I’m here having to deal with that. That is something that I’m expecting to find at the elementary school. Not at a distinguished school for artists.

I barely tolerate the duties and then I see something like this on a Monday. I’d rather be anywhere else but here. At least somewhere else I could be rewarded financially for skills that I have. I shake my head in disgust because I know they can do better, but they’re choosing not to. Which makes it all the more frustrating.

Day Five Hundred & Eighty-four: 4/2202025

Well, I’m back at the elementary school, but at least this will be for the last time! After this I’ll no longer have to show up here and deal with the grossness that exists in this school. I’ll refuse to make an appearance at this school again. Hopefully, the person that handles this school doesn’t have any unexpected absences from now until the end of May.

I’m so glad that it’s the end! I hit a new level of disgust tonight. In two separate girl’s bathrooms I had to clean literal shit off of the stall walls. Some little bitch reached down and smothered their fingers in their own feces and decided to try and paint with it. By the time I was cleaning the bathroom it had hardened. I had to use a green scrubbing pad to dislodge the filth from the surface.

My only solace was that I didn’t have to spend over an hour vacuuming. Most of the time, these rooms are covered in debris. They at least stack the chairs, but I spend up to an hour and a half going over the carpet and rugs like a fine toothed comb. It takes forever. Since I had to clean the bathrooms covered in filth, I at least had something to sway the balance of the night. I never want to step into this building again. I’m not meant to work in an elementary school. That’s for damn sure! I suppose I learned something from this whole experience.

Day Five Hundred & Eighty-five: 4/23/2025

I know it’s very unethical and extremely wrong, but I wish we could keep some cameras around or even in the bathrooms. I want to know who’s doing this bullshit! Clogged toilets because something has been stuffed down the drain or boys pissing all over the bathroom. Today, I had discard four rolls of toilet paper because someone keeps urinating over the fresh rolls. Just gross. These are things I’ve had to deal with at the elementary school. Why are we dealing with this same sort of crap at an elite school. If you’re so unhappy then go somewhere else and allow for someone to take your place. I literally have one more month to go, I’m just going to try and keep my cool so I can get paid until the very last day. I’m so over this crap. Honestly.

Day Five Hundred & Eighty-six: 4/24/2025

I’m dealing with a lot of shit this week, literally. It's been clogging toilets, being rubbed on walls, and splattered all over toilets. I understand that this is part of the job. That’s it’s the custodian’s job to ensure that spaces are clean. However, I’ve had to deal with much more feces than usual this week. I’m utterly over it. I hate the face that I even have bowel movements, dealing with others is a whole other brand of hell.

It didn’t help that we were short staffed. My boss was having to work an earlier shift and a fellow coworker called out sick. So, it was limited to just a few of us to clean the building. I probably should have put more effort into my work, but honestly I could barely tolerate anything. I didn’t even give the bare minimum. I just tried to cover my ass so that no one noticed that I didn’t vacuum or try to even pretend to do my job. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to keep doing this for another four weeks.

Day Five Hundred & Eighty-seven: 4/25/2025

It was time that I shouted at a slew of students. I’ve been on the verge of losing it for days. Dealing with everything I’ve had to deal with this week has driven me somewhat crazy. I can’t handle these privileged adolescents acting out incessantly. Well, my coworker and I were discussing our job and walking down the hallway when a barrage of noise caught my attention on the second floor. A group of juveniles were running excessively down the hall. I called out for them to cease. If they are going to misbehave then they should leave. We have events going on and I don’t have the patience for those that use the space as their personal gym. That’s exactly what will set me off. I’m honestly trying to put in more effort tonight than I did yesterday, but I’m certainly irritated with bad behavior. I’m not perfect, but I’m already on a thin wire. Don’t push me!

There was news that set me on edge earlier too. We’ve had issues with clogged toilets on the second floor. So much so that the administration had asked me about it. I had no clue about it because I’m not in charge in case a plumber was needed. Well, our facility manager and assistant manager worked on it earlier today. They were able to find the item that was lodged into the toilet. It was a large vaping contraption. One the size of a phone. So, someone stuffed it into the toilet with effort. How fucking rude! I’d rather them smoke literal cigarettes. At least those items disintegrate. Unlike a metal/plastic vape trapped in a metal pipe.

May these kids get a stye as large as a tic-tac on their eyelid that makes them lose sleep. May they never know a day’s rest from a frog caught in their throat. May they lose earring little by little and be unable to experience the joy of music by the time they’re 30. May they lose their eyesight at an early age and depend on glasses. May these intolerable ones lose their dexterity too soon and become unable to become true artists.