Tealful Desire

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 Four Hundred & Sixty-one: 9/30/2024

I can’t believe that this month is already over. It has felt more like six months not four weeks. I also don’t feel like I’ve accomplished as much as I wish I could. I’d like to say that my work keeps me distracted, but more I’m discouraged by my past efforts. I worked so hard to complete the two books I’ve written recently that I want my next bit of work to be perfect. The problem is that writing something perfectly the first time doesn’t really happen. It takes writing and rewriting to get something perfect. I’m so stuck that nothing is coming out.

I don’t understand why communication is such a problem. Especially in an educational institution. We have activity calendars for a reason. Information about events has to be clearly noted so that there is adequate coverage. There were no events listed on our calendar for tonight. So, it was very confusing when there were choir kids running all around the building after 4 o’clock today. It wasn’t until I saw the choir director that it was confirmed that yes we have an event this evening. Something that would’ve been helpful to know. At least I’m able to get my tasks done before the slew of people invade the building.

I say this, but actually the event was listed! My boss apparently didn’t read the calendar correctly. However, we are supposed to have security when we have events. Yet, no one was here to ensure safety. It made me much more diligent towards suspicious behavior. In fact, I had to kick some girls out of one bathroom and then bar a group of girls from another one. I really hate it when kids hangout in a bathroom stall as if that’s their secret clubhouse. So I had to call them to get out and then I had to block another set from using the other bathroom so I could make sure it wasn’t a total mess before the event started. Because even though we have the main bathroom open by the concert hall, people will still use the student bathrooms. I suppose it is that time of the year where we will have events every week. Oh, the joys of working at an art school.

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-two: 10/1/2024

Back at the elementary school today. All I’m hoping for is that all of the toilets will be flushed. I’ve gotten very annoyed with seeing bowel movements that linger within the porcelain thrones. I have to clean them, I shouldn’t have to flush them. Also, how long has that foul substance been sitting by the time that I’ve gotten to said toilet? You know what, I don’t want to know. I would just appreciate that I don’t have to deal with such things.

I wrote down my thoughts when I first arrived and to be honest, it was worse than I’d presumed. There was poop smeared on a mirror, multiple toilets unflushed, and I think the boys peed all over the floor in the main bathroom. I haven’t been using the kaivac machine when I work at the elementary school. Instead I’ve been mopping and cleaning the toilets by hand. The manual way has been less cumbersome, but today I wish I would’ve had the power washing machine to clean what needed to be cleaned.

I also had a weird moment where I thought I heard something or someone. I was taking a break and I swear I thought I heard keys jingling. The first time I thought it was in my mind, but the second time I was absolutely sure that I heard it. I get the creeps being in this building. I’m constantly hearing things even with my headphones. Footsteps or the sound of doors opening. I know I can be a nervous person, but I don’t make up sounds in my mind.

I know I vent about the little annoyances I have about DSA, but at the end of the day I prefer to be there. At least there I don’t have to worry about poop and pee being over all of the surfaces. I grew up dealing with stock animals, I’m more familiar with that, not kids. The only reason I get frustrated with the art students is because I have much higher expectations for them versus the normal student body. The artists should stand above the rabble because they have to audition to get into that building. I can’t believe I’ll have to work at this elementary school for another 5 months. Gross!

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-three: 10/2/2024

So we had to do landscape work today. Mostly, pulling weeds. Instead of doing it early in the afternoon we did it later in the day, which made it much more tolerable. Even though I got sweat in my eyes. It’s far better to be in the shade versus under direct sunlight. So even though it’s my least favorite activity in the job, it wasn’t the absolute worst. We had the time because tonight was the second night of parent/teacher conferences.

Very similar to when we have open house, there’s not much that we custodians can do when there are people in the classrooms and halls. So we have to wait until the school is cleared out. I’m not complaining, because there’s nothing wrong with downtime. Except it disrupts our entire routines. I was able to sweep the halls before school went out, I did my trash as soon as school got out, but I don’t have time to vacuum or sweep the tiled classrooms. I’ll barely have time to clean the bathrooms and check the trash again.

I know, stimulating information coming from this fairy. I wish it was exciting, but that’s what my day looks like. There’s not a lot to entertain with when the subject is under stimulating. I don’t necessarily feel the need to have a more stimulating situation, cause usually the exciting events are usually the more gross events in this profession.

That’s another reason why I put so much effort into my looks. If I can feel fabulous I feel less mundane and menial. Even though I didn’t do a crazy hairstyle today, the eyeshadow was bold. I love what you can do with tape to make sharp lines and dramatic shading.

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-four: 10/3/2024

Happy Mean Girls Day! It’s October 3rd and it’s the iconic day that exists in pop culture. I don’t have anyone to ask what day it is. If I would’ve planned better I should’ve made this the week that I wear pink. Oh well! I’m keeping my teal attire for the week.

I’m honestly glad today was a normal day. No events and we had the opportunity to get our rooms back together. My rooms desperately needed it. There was so much debris and bits of tiny trash all over the carpet that it took me a full hour to vacuum. Excluding the library. It’s not that I’m lazy, well I’m a bit lazy, but the library doesn’t always need a once over.

I wish I had something more stimulating to talk about, but honestly it was a pretty low key day. The bathrooms weren’t trashed. There wasn’t any graffiti that had to be removed. I didn’t need to yell at anyone. Though, I did give one student a very stern look because I’ve warned her about wandering my halls. Everyone was at work today. So, I didn't have to do any extra work. I’m hoping tomorrow will be another chill day.

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-five: 10/4/2024

I had a little rough start to my day! When I arrived on my bike to the school I realized that I didn’t have my access card and badge. These two cards are important and very annoying to replace. So, when I couldn’t find it I panicked. I immediately called my boss and told him that I needed to backtrack to find the cards. I keep them tied together by a teal ribbon. They’re white and are easy to spot. However, I bike a mile and a half from home. So there was a good amount of space to lose these important items.

I clocked in and immediately left to go searching. I literally biked backwards from how I got to work. That included biking in the wrong bike lane. I was determined to find my access cards. I had to bike all the way home. Because it was in the stairwell of my building. I carry my bike from the second level to the ground floor. Somehow I must have bumped my bike and it knocked out my badge. Once I found it, I turned around and biked back to work. So, by 2:30pm I had already biked for 45 minutes. Awesome. Glad I applied a hefty amount of setting spray to keep this look fresh all night.

Which I certainly needed. I broke out in a major sweat attack at the very end of the night. I think it’s because my most laborious activities commence at the conclusion of the shift. Mostly on Fridays because I mop the two science rooms and stairwell in my area. I was literally dripping and had to pat my face dry otherwise my eyebrows would’ve ended up in my beard. Seriously, when I patted my face, part of my eyebrows bled onto the paper towel. Hot right?

I wouldn’t say that this was the worst week, but there is a clear difference to working a four day work week to working a five day work week. I really wish I could have a job where I only had to work 4 x 10 hour shifts a week. I’d be much happier. One day I’ll be doing something much less menial. Speaking of that, I had a nice conversation with a student. She and I have pleasantries from time to time. She had complimented me on my makeup skills and choice in attire. I told her it’s how I compensate for working such a menial job. She hadn’t heard that word before. So, I had to explain and I think it’s always suitable to use the exact dictionary definition. Menial literally means submissive and servant, a humbling profession. Yup, that’s exactly right.

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-six: 10/7/2024

I tried to rock straight hair today. Except it did exactly what it always does. It started to curl and frizz before I even left my apartment. It looked so good too. Oh well, that is my luck in life. When I want straight hair my natural texture fights through like some sort of weed in freshly tailored lawn.

Speaking of the lawn, I was extremely disappointed in these students. I can see how some bits of trash is left from time to time. I believe that they have the dexterity to pick everything up, but I get it! However, today there was a plethora of discarded trash scattered all over the place. If you don’t respect DSA then why are you here? If you are so angsty that you can’t treat a special place with dignity then perhaps you should go to a high school where you will be a nobody. Just saying! I resent the depravity left by my delinquents.

That set the tone for my day so I was over them by the time we had a band concert. ‘Tis the season and we will continue to have events each week until the holiday breaks. I can handle the influx of people for these events, but I don’t have the patience for delinquency. There are no sports at this school so when I see anytype of sports ball, my attention is heightened. I’ve been specifically told that we are to discourage any activity in the building because if they hit one of the sprinklers it will set off the water works.

So, when I was about to start cleaning my bathrooms I had to discourage a group of kids from throwing around a ball in my hallway. I told them that if they want to play with that ball then they need to go outside. Besides, if you are here for a concert, shouldn’t you be in the concert hall watching the performance? I don’t like being this crunchy and crusty custodian, but bad behavior ages me about forty years.

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-seven: 10/8/2024

On Tuesdays I dry heave. There is always something that I have to deal with that is absolutely foul at the elementary school. Today it was vomit that made me almost vomit myself. One of the students threw up in the recycling bin. These stupid bins don’t have liners and they are already pretty dirty. Many times discarded trash is placed in them, when they should be rinsed, but they aren’t. So to clean this thing out I first had to remove all of the contaminated trash. Which, if you weren’t aware, smelled of vomit.

Luckily it wasn’t a lot, but enough for me to gag while I was performing this task. There was still significant residue that had dried to the sides of the purple bin. Unfortunately they have holes in the bottom, so I couldn’t let antibacterial chemicals soak. I still used chemicals to remove the substances and clean it the best I could. Too bad the sinks in the custodial closet here at the elementary school are small. I ended up being covered in water, but I think I did the project to the best of my ability.

I did this after I dumped all of the trash in the building. Which includes checking the bathroom stalls. There weren’t just one but five toilets that had contents remaining for me to flush! My DSA kids can make some messes in those bathrooms, but they are usually good about flushing their bowel movements. I shake my head in disgust.

I ended my night at DSA. I finished my work at the elementary school and I realized that I had forgotten a protein shake at the school yesterday. I didn’t want it to sit in the fridge for another day so I biked over. I think my coworkers appreciated my presence because they got slammed with a potluck and a concert tonight. People were in the building until right before I arrived. I assisted with trash and a few other tasks to help them close up the building. I really came for the protein shake, but I stayed to be a team player.

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-eight: 10/9/2024

I feel like I was behind so much today. That’s because I got myself behind when I was doing the trash. One, there seemed to be much more trash than I was expecting. I hate surprises and that especially relates to too much trash. I only bring one barrel with me and it’s a long distance back to the front of the school to dump it or replace it with an empty one. Two, I started late. The students are out of the school until next Tuesday. There was so much elation and energy emanating from the hallways that I wanted until 4:15 before I left my domicile. I had no interest in encountering them. Three, I stopped to chat with a coworker. My friend Kimberly was in her office, staying a little late today. We don’t always get a chance to catch up, so I took the opportunity. We ended up conversing for a while, to the point where I had to excuse myself. Otherwise I wasn’t going to finish all of my duties in a timely manner. These delays pushed my regular scheduled programming by almost an hour.

Don’t get me wrong, I still had some downtime, but it wasn’t much. I haven’t had any time to write today. I’m literally typing as fast as I can at the end of the shift. I have a bad habit of not adding to the blog after I leave for the night. I like to expel all of my thoughts before I clock out for the night. That way the information is fresh and as honest as I can make it. Well, mostly honest. I don’t put all of my thoughts down. I try to provide the highlights or the main points of the day that linger in my head before I exit for the night.

I will say, I had a little moment earlier. I was trying to rush to finish my trash collection as possible. I entered the library and I noticed that there were tables and chairs blocking my way. The only time that this space is used now is for meetings and I find it sort of rude to block all of the walkways from one end to the other. My aggression bubbled to the surface and I literally threw a few chairs out of my way. Luckily I didn’t break anything, but it was a bit destructive and not necessary. Except, sometimes all of my emotions cumulate and erupt when I feel obstructed by other’s inconsideration. I could've gone back and picked them up, but I didn’t. I was working. At least I’ll have a reprieve from students and even faculty for a few days. I’m also only working a 4 day work week. So that’s a thing!

Day Four Hundred & Sixty-nine: 10/10/2024

There were no students and probably only about 10 staff members in the building when I arrived at noon today. Since there aren’t any students and faculty until Tuesday we are working 12-8:30pm. I’m grateful to get off early, even though I prefer my regular hours. It will break-up the week even though I’ll be off tomorrow.

I did have to start my day outside which I always hate, but I wasn’t out for too long. I didn’t see the point, but it’s not my choice. So I did what was tasked to me. Don’t worry I only put in a minimum amount of effort. I still didn’t want to ruin my look so I did a subtle look today. No eyebrows and very light makeup. I wasn’t sure how much time I was going to spend outside and I’m not willing to lose a pair of eyelashes for this job.

Since then, I still haven’t done much. I’ve chatted on the phone and meditated for a little bit. Oh, I checked the trash and wiped down each door in my area. So, I’ve done some work. Since I did all of my necessary work last night I’m not planning to do much this evening. I’ll still have until Monday to do any other extra work that needs to be done. I’m soaking up this reprieve as much as I can. Goodbye for now.