Week Six

This was a slow week for me at Tigh Na Mara. With many of my co-workers beginning to leave to go back to school, my hours have been cut back for a bit to give them as many hours as possible before they go. It's a little frustrating but that's how it goes.

Working with high school students can be a little frustrating too. While this is definitely not true for all of them, many lack a good work ethic. Yesterday at work we were stuck inside all day due to the weather, so we play games, do crafts, maybe watch a movie. But all the helpers that were working that day were not getting involved in any games or helping with crafts. They just wanted to play Guitar Hero that was stored in the room till the next teen night. After I repeatedly told them to leave it alone because they were just going to make the kids want to play and, honestly, the age group we had didn't have the coordination to play any games on the Wii, they set it up and were taking turns as the kids watched. I had to make them turn it off and put it away cause the games are for the kids to play with not us. So the two helpers just picked a movie they wanted to watch and sat there zoning out on the couch leaving me to deal with the children and all the adults showing up to sign in their kids.

I realize that they are just at Tigh Na Mara for a summer job, but it is still a job and there needs to be a professional atmosphere. This type of stuff happens repeatedly at work and nothing ever happens, helpers sit around doing zilch, the leaders tell them to get up and interact with the kids and they don't.

But some of the staff there do a great job. They are helpful and great with the kids and the parents. They solve problems on their own and don't need constant supervision like the kids.

The temporary nature of the work leads itself to having trouble finding dependable staff, which is why they are so anxious to try to hire the good workers back year after year.