Swimming Lessons

Without a permanent shift in any of the Games sections of Six Flags Over Mid-America, I worked in Pool, which some of us called "swimming." I had a lot of latitude to set my own hours. I would usually sign up to work extra open shifts in sections that needed them or fill in for others when they needed time off. Most of the time, it worked flawlessly, but I accidentally double-booked myself a couple of times and had to work it out with the office. One time, though, failing to handle things the right way the first time led to a lot of needless frustration.

Monday, June 24, 1991. I call into the office to scope out open shifts. The first time I get a lady who isn't even working the desk. She says somebody will call me back, and you can figure out what happened. I call back a second time, and I'm told to call back around noon, in the likelihood a night shift will pop up. I call again and come up dry.

But I have another issue to settle: Jody's shift. Her and I made a deal a month ago -- I'd work for her on a day shift from June 28 to July 14th. It sounded like a done deal, but not completely. I need her to get it on a form so I could sign off on it and put my Social Security number on it. Now time is running out, and it needs to get to the office to get processed so the forepeople are aware of the change. I'd had repeatedly asked her to get the paperwork to me, but she says no rush, she wants to wait until her time off got closer.

Now I'm getting annoyed. A day earlier, I'd put up a note on the Britannia bulletin board:

THE PERSON (BROWN TAG) WHO WANTED ME
TO WORK FOR HER JUNE 28 TO JULY 14
NEEDS TO GET THE PAPERWORK (TSC) TO ME
PRONTO OR ELSE THE DEAL IS NULL AND VOID!
--Chris Francis
MY NUMBER IS ON THE POOL LIST.
THIS MEANS YOU JODY [REDACTED]!
I shouldn't have done it. But I need to get it taken care of, and I'm getting desperate. My plan is to get the paperwork done today while working. But without a shift, I have to get it done another way. I talk to the desk girl and get her to verify Jody is working. I ask to have the call transferred to Britannia. That's when I hit another problem: the junky phone in my room accidentally cuts me off. I call back right away and Desk Girl tells me Jody will call back on her break.

Hours pass with no call. I get back on the phone and explain. The girl on the other end tells me she'll work on it be back with me in a few minutes. She calls back to later saying I don't need to do anything; Jodi will turn in the forms in on Thursday, and I don't need to put any of my information -- including my Social Security number -- on the paperwork. They can get it from the office files. I should've known, but I didn't think office managers could crib that information, even with my consent.

Jody calls back later and I apologize for the sign, explaining how hard it's been for me to get shifts lately because Six Flags is cutting back on extra workers. She's good about it, very good, but in a way that makes me feel worse.

"I owe you big," I say just before the goodbye.