More Than Just A Dream

I got to see Amber, my awesome zoo camper, one more time before she and her family left. She's gotten so tall and grown up! 

            Last night at work was a very easy shift. When I first arrived there at three, there were about 135 check-ins left, which was less than I expected. We ended up being at full capacity by the end of the shift at eleven, but thankfully we were able to avoid overselling. It was me, Nate, and two new desk agents, Sofi and Felix, working the later shift. We hired two new people because Haley is leaving soon to go back to school, and James switched to the night audit position since they were short staffed, and he said he preferred it (he loved the fact that they got to sit down). Sofi is from the Los Angeles area, and Felix is actually from Australia. They’ve been here for about a week, so are still learning the system and everything. They seem to be doing fine so far though.

            A little after everyone had gotten back from dinner, at around seven, Jen said that one of us should go home since we didn’t need four desk agents anymore. She also said that it should be either Nate or me; she wanted Sofi and Felix to stay to get as much practice as possible. Nate and I both said that we didn’t care who went home. We’d kind of prefer to stay and get as many hours as possible, but it didn’t matter too much. So, after a very heated, bloody battle of rock, paper, scissors, I won and Nate went home for the night. I mainly wanted to stay since I was pretty sure the rest of the shift would be easy. We were totally full, but we didn’t have very many check-ins left, and everybody knew not to accept any walk-ins to avoid becoming oversold. Jen and Maggie were both there with the three of us, but Jen was the lodge’s manager on duty last night, so she was going all over the place. Basically, I spent the shift’s last three hours or so just chatting with Maggie and browsing the internet on my computer. It was a slightly boring but easy rest of the shift. When eleven o’clock rolled around, there were six check-ins remaining, the night audit staff arrived, and the rest of us left. Cristina was asleep by the time I got back to our room, and in not too long, so was I.

            I got up and went to breakfast again this morning to eat with Cristina and Nate, who were both working the earlier shift today. I told Nate that he hadn’t missed much by going home early. After coming back to the dorms for a few hours, I started walking back to the EDR for lunch at about 11:30. On my way there, walking through the four hundred row of cottages, I saw Amber, the zoo camper I know, walking down the row with her little brother. It was the first time I’d seen her since I’d checked her family in on Tuesday. She immediately noticed me as well, and we walked back together to the cottage that they were staying in. She told me that she’d gone into the lobby with her family earlier that morning, and been disappointed to see that I wasn’t at the desk. I’d wanted to see her again before she left, too, so I was really glad that we’d happened to see each other. She and her family were packing up their car, getting ready to leave. I sat outside the cottage until about noon talking with them. Amber said that they’d seen the popular grizzly bear 399 with her two cubs while they were here, along with a few moose, elk, bison, and the foxes that live right around the lodge. That made me happy to hear, since I knew that Amber had really wanted to see some wildlife, especially bears.

            Before I left Amber asked for my number and email address, which I gave her. Having known her since she was five years old, it’s hard to believe that she’ll be fourteen and old enough to volunteer at the zoo soon. That makes me feel kind of old, but also happy and proud. Her mother said I should get in touch with them when I get back to San Antonio in October, which I’m sure I’ll do. She really is an awesome kid. I also got a picture of us together before I left, as if to prove that our meeting here in Wyoming was real, as opposed to just a dream.

            I go back into work at three today, working with Rebecca, Maggie, and Jen. I think we’re at full capacity again, and probably will be for most of the week, but I’m not worried about it. When I checked the number of arrivals expected every day that I’m working this week, nothing looked too daunting.