Countdown to Vacation

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 & Sixty-five: 3/17/2025

I just need to make it through the week! Five days before I’m on vacation. I’m suffering through my issues as best as I can. My recent slew of rejections have really put me into a sad place emotionally. I have an upcoming trip and I’m surrounded by a plethora of friends and family, but I’m still shattered. I think I broke down four times throughout the shift. I should have chosen a different mascara, the one I wore runs pretty easily. At least when I weep, it's short-lived and I can clean myself up with a little tissue. Good thing I captured my Instagram pic before the wave of emotions took over.

It didn’t help that I was flabbergasted by the state of some of the classrooms. Like what you are doing to allow the kids to destroy the space like animals? I’m so sick of it, I really think they should prohibit all food in the carpeted areas. It’s just gross! At least I didn’t have to deal with any sort of graffiti today. That really makes me want to tear down a wall. Sometimes, I feel that these people forget how trash cans work. Use them, please!

Day Five Hundred & Sixty-six: 3/18/2025

Fucking little bitches! Writing on the bathroom walls is so juvenile and absolutely annoying. I don’t need additional work, no matter what’s going on in your life! It makes me hate you! I don’t care about your feelings because you clearly don’t care about mine. I’m having a hard time and your antics are only pissing me off. I don’t want to be here, but I have to be here to keep getting a paycheck. It’s not even a great paycheck, I’m in literal debt right now. Look at me complaining, the point is that I hate these teenage girls that defile the bathrooms like some sort of animal in a cage.

This specific graffiti was easily removed, but it was extra work that I find completely inane. It wasn’t even art, it was a tally for the reason for using the restroom. So, not only did someone draw on the wall, but then others contributed to the rudeness. Yes, absolutely rude. I of course put it on my Instagram, and I hope they appreciate my sentiment to their meager existence.

Day Five Hundred & Sixty-seven: 3/19/2025

I can at least say that the week is progressing. I’m not locked into some sort of curse where the day continues to repeat itself over and over again. I’m one day closer to my vacation and I’m concentrating on taking each day at a time. That’s all I can do, survive and not scream at any unsuspecting students. I’m literally trying to put in my usual minimum effort at this time. If I can go a day without breaking down in tears, then I take that as a win.

Another win for the night was that the event ended without hindrance and everyone was out of the building by 9pm. We don’t have students tomorrow, so there wasn’t a major need to ensure that the building was completely spik and span, but we still had to do the minimum. Again, I’m perfectly fine with putting in the minimum effort.

Though, I can’t guarantee that the rest of my coworkers follow my lead. I’m not in charge and its beyond the scope of my position to ensure that they perform. Now, if they want to pay, then there’s room for negotiation. At this time, I’m only willing to check the doors, turn off the lights, and set the alarm. Please don’t ask me to do more than that!

Day Five Hundred & Sixty-eight: 3/20/2025

The building was so quiet, for a time that is. Most districts in Colorado closed because the teachers were protesting. So, since they couldn’t ensure adequate coverage the school was operating like a snow day. Except, this fairy didn’t have to shovel any forsaken snow like some sort of stranded groundskeeper.

I was perfectly satisfied with doing detail work for most of the evening. It was low impact and honestly, I’ve needed to clean certain spots of these classrooms. If they didn’t allow for students to eat in them, they would remain much more free of food debris. I had a few podcasts to catch up on, so I allowed my mind to dissociate and concentrate on the tasks at hand.

The quiet day didn’t last into the evening. We had a dance performance that wasn’t rescheduled, so around 7 PM the building became filled with attendees to the event. I still had a few activities to perform until they were out of the building. Luckily it was before 9 PM. So, I could complete the remainder of my to-do list and have plenty of time to sit and write. Though I'm not getting a lot of writing done, my mind is somewhere else and I’m ready for my vacation to start tomorrow. Just one more day of work!

Day Five Hundred & Sixty-nine: 3/21/2025

I did it! I made it through the week, this day, and now I’ll get to be off for an extended amount of time. Nothing particular incident happened either. The events ended early and I was able to start doing bathrooms at a reasonable time. This titillating information, but it meant that I didn’t have to scrounge and scurry to complete my tasks before I had to clock out. I don’t have much more to say, I’m officially on vacation and I don’t have to be back in the school until April 1st!