Seriously Short-Staffed

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 & Ninety-two: 5/5/2025

It feels like a special day. The way that the numbers coincide is quite interesting. It makes me wonder if anything special is going to happen or if it’s going to be a low-luster sort of Monday. My countdown has officially begun. Three weeks to my last day and I’m going to try and muster through each day.

Nevermind! I’m not sure if it’s special, but it was inevitable that I would have to clean up vomit today. Once I had to deal with a small amount of vomit while I was working at the elementary school. Today, some student projectile vomited outside of the 7th grade science room. It took an entire back of sawdust to absorb, and then I still had to sweep it up. It was absolutely disgusting. The smell lingered and the whole act felt beneath me. Except, I don’t have a choice in the matter.

I will say that I’m tired of teenagers. I’m annoyed with the adolescents. I think these juveniles are jerks. I’ve learned over my three years in this position that I’m not a caregiver for children. It’s not my place and I’ve resolved to be a curmudgeon. So be it!

Their antics disgust me. There were two bathrooms that had urine all over the floor. Like is this some sort of game or trend that they’re following? Thank goodness for the kaivac machine. It power washes the floor and toilet so I don’t have to touch the remnants of another person’s waste. Maybe I had hoped that today was going to be a good one. Except, I’ve had to deal with every form of bodily function. UGH!

Five Hundred & Ninety-three: 5/6/2025

I’ve got 12 days including today to go. I’m excluding a few days that I need off to pack, but that’s still a significant amount of days. I’m quite curious if I can actually make it through. I’m just going to keep thinking about the three paychecks that I’m anticipating. They’re absolutely necessary for me to succeed with this move across the country.

We have a performance tonight and I really should check to see how many more of these events are scheduled in my allotted time left. It’s not that I have disdain for the events, it’s more about the annoyances from kids running around before the events. Then, we need to remove people in a timely manner so we can finish our duties.

We were able to get people out, but even though they were driven out there were a slew that forgot their personal belongings. Luckily, there was other school staff to help with that. Us custodian’s were far too busy cleaning the bathrooms. I’m not going to stop doing what I’m working on because ‘you’ forgot that you left your personal belongings in a locked area. No patience, sorry, but not sorry at all.

Day Five Hundred & Ninety-four: 5/7/2025

Eleven more days to go, and my patience is as thin as thread. It’s been a long academic year and the list of antics that I’m willing to put up with is as small as a sprite. Teeny-tiny really. Today is no exception. We’re short-staffed by two employees and I have a lot to do at the end of the evening. The fact that I had to clean up a pile of vomit this afternoon is the start of a horrendous shift.

It progressed to me yelling at a group of girls. I hate when these students think that they can use the western doors as they see fit. I already had to scold them that they can’t prop the door open and later they started to play around with the doors and excluding others from entering. I yelled at them, “STOP! This isn’t your personal playground!” I hate being this person, but I’m not going to accept inappropriate behavior in my area. If you want to play around, then leave and find a ballpit to dive into.

I’m barely tolerating my duties, I don’t need this teenage energy to interfere. I really do sound like a curmudgeon. I’m very much feeling like one. I might be a little young to call myself a curmudgeon, but I’ve always joked that I’m an 85 year old woman inside this gay man’s body. So, I suppose I’m a curmudgeon at heart.

Day Five Hundred & Ninety-five: 5/8/2025

Oh my absolute gosh! We have so much going on tonight. The building is booked to the max. We have a guitar concert, dance performance, writer’s presentation, and a theater thing. Trying to get anything done at the end of the night will be an absolute miracle. I was able to fulfill some of my duties before lunch break, but there’s no way to get all of the bathrooms done in time.

The associate that works at the elementary school called out sick. So there were only three of us at DSA for the night. Luckily, it was the same three from yesterday, so we knew what to do. However, it’s so much work for the few that were able to make it in time. So many people in the building make it so difficult.

I feel bad that I’m going to leave them in a similar situation tomorrow, but I really need to take the day off to get what I need done. I’m also entitled to these days. Since I’ll be quitting soon, I won’t be able to cash these personal days in and they don’t pay them out. I have a little bit of guilt, but I’m definitely going to work my final week without taking any more sick days. I honestly could have taken all of April off. That’s how many sick days I have left.