Poor Behavior

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 & Nineteen: 1/6/2025

Finally back to my normal schedule, thank the stars. Don’t get me wrong, I love when there aren’t students around. It’s like walking into a spa that smells faintly of disinfectant, but working mornings? Absolute torture. If I’m going to sacrifice my precious personal time for a job I barely tolerate, it’s going to be on my terms. That means afternoons and evenings only, thank you very much. My mornings are sacred. That’s when I’m most productive, and I’d much rather spend that time writing than schlepping around with a mop.

Technically, there aren't any students today (blessedly), but the faculty is making their grand return. So there’s still work to be done. I’m over the detailed stuff, though. I just want to do my usual thing, stick to my routine, and glide through my run like it’s any other day. Let’s not make this more complicated than it needs to be, okay?

Day Five Hundred & Twenty: 1/7/2025

The students are back, and so are the headaches. We’re short-staffed today. Classic! And it snowed all morning, just to add to the fun. My day crew got stuck shoveling snow, and while I’d love to say I feel bad for them, I’m mostly just praying I don’t get dragged into the same misery. Snow removal and I are not on speaking terms.

On top of that, why isn’t security here when students are? I’m over being the unofficial hall monitor. My job is to clean the space, not babysit wandering teenagers who think the building is their personal playground. I literally caught one girl in a teacher’s pod, which, like… bold move, kid. And while I’m sure they all think they’re slick, I see every crumb, every piece of trash, and every misguided attempt to make the bathroom their personal hangout.

Honestly, when there aren’t any events, I just want everyone out. Don’t eat, don’t linger, don’t even breathe too loudly. Just let me clean in peace, so this place can be semi-presentable by tomorrow. Is that too much to ask?

Day Five Hundred & Twenty-one: 1/8/2025

Ugh! I hate it when I don’t have eyelashes on. I started the journey to work with both of them on my eyes, but the left one was having issues, but I thought it would hang on. Then, when I got to work I was taking my scarf off and it caught the left eyelash. It wasn’t salvageable, and since I refuse to go asymmetrical I had to remove the right eye as well. So, here I am with my natural lashes. I feel like something is missing.

That’s how my day started, and it didn’t improve once I was officially clocked in. We received our quality assurance evaluation, or QA, this morning. We’ve been waiting for this for months. I’ve been very tired about hearing that it was coming, prepare your area, the QA is coming. The whole process is total bullshit. The grading parameters are ridiculous and it’s so disheartening. I understand it’s necessary to ensure that buildings are being properly maintained, but we only received a 63.

The day just continues, it’s odd that I’m one to call out someone for drug use, but I walked into the boy’s bathroom and it reeked of marijuana. Someone clearly had used a vape, it was pungent. It just happened that there was a Vice Principal nearby, so I dragged her into the bathroom to experience what I just had. We never catch these kids using drugs in school, but this was the closest that I’ve gotten. So ironic that I’m the one trying to catch the bad behavior.

I say this, but I’m fortunately a legal adult that is allowed to partake in substances outside of the building. I just get annoyed how these students don’t respect the space. If you can’t follow the rules, then maybe you should go somewhere else.

Day Five Hundred & Twenty-two: 1/9/2025

I really didn’t want to do my job today. I’m still feeling a little burnt out about our score from the QA. I don’t feel like the building deserves my time. Don’t worry! I still did what I had to do. Though, I didn’t do any extra work. That’s for damn sure. The only goal is to get through the day. Then, I’m one day closer to the end of the week.

Honestly, I showed up but I’ve wanted to go back since I clocked in. At least my eyelashes withstood the bike ride. Except, I’ve wanted to rub my eyes all day, but the moment I do then there goes the eyebrows along with the lashes. I suppose that’s the struggle with doing a face everyday. Once doesn’t have the opportunity to touch their face.

Day Five Hundred & Twenty-three: 1/10/2025

I’m sitting in front of my computer and trying not to absolutely lose it! I know I shouldn’t feel so irate, but I’m tired of my bathrooms not meeting the high standards for the QA. We already had the score, but then I had to be shown the pictures today. You know what! Hire more people, ensure that when we have someone call out that someone else comes in to fill in for them. Instead we have to do other people’s duties. I’m just over this job.

After that I walked down the hall. All I wanted to do was scream at students wandering the halls. There was discarded trash all around the hall and students occupying the area instead of being in the classrooms. I would love to do my job, but there’s always kids in my area! I literally want to scream!

We are short staffed today because one coworker called out sick and another one supposedly had an approved vacation day. So, I have to do extra work tonight. Fridays are already annoying because we have to get the building clean enough for the start of next week. I’m also too broke to ease my pain with aggressive spending. When I’m having a rough week, I would spend money, but right now… this fairy is poor.

I laxed on a few of my duties tonight. Yes, I was feeling a bit lazy, but we were also down two people. So, I prioritized some of the work and lost time to complete some of the vacuuming. It’s not the end of the world, and at this point. I don’t care. I have poor behavior.