In One Piece

When you work in the asylum, you expect to take the occasional bumps and bruises that are associated with the job. For those that are in the childcare profession, especially in the youth division, one will suffer some wear and tear in mind and in body due to working there for so many years. Oftentimes, I share my experiences working with kids and what affect, if any, they had on me emotionally, physically, and mentally. Essentially when you apply for a job like mine, you primarily apply to be a human punching bag for kids, which says something about me....I'm a glutton for punishment. Let me just share the hazards of my job and initial brutality I have taken over the past 8 years shall we.

One of the aspects of the job that, as a guy, you never really see coming is either getting hit, punched, kicked, or kneed where the sun doesn't shine. Sometimes it's an accident but other times it's intentional and unfortunately I have suffered fairly the most pain; but my best friend would beg to differ on that. In any case, when it comes to a recreational sport such as dodgeball these kids can oftentimes be down right sadistic as they aim for either the face or below the belt. Let me tell you something, it's not a good day when you are hit in those areas...at the same time. Though it may sound funny, it's a situation that I tend to go through on a semi-daily basis to the point where wearing a cup is a much needed alternative.

During the summer, the swimming pool is one of the activities that every kid, as well as counselors, love to do because it cools each of us down from the hot weather. Yet, as a counselor, we primarily have to watch our backs due to kids wanting to drown the living daylights out of us. In all honesty, every summer there's a bunch of kids that have made it their mission to try to drown us, but not intentionally. Thinking about it, over the years it happens more to the guys than the girls primarily because, in the past, the teenage boys have had crushes on the female counselors. So, if you guys don't get any emails from me over the summer, then their mission was a success, but hopefully that doesn't happen. *knock on wood*

When I first started at the asylum I never had any back problems; but when that first child jumped on my back 8 years ago, it started a downward spiral. These kids thrive on jumping on our backs and trying to take us down in the process. I can't tell you the number of times kids, out of nowhere, have taken me down and when they have me down a massive dog pile ensues. It's not a pretty picture as you see 6 and 7 year old bodies just jump on top of a 28 year old man with the expressed purpose of either bodily injury or knocking the wind out of him. In some aspect, they are little like mini-ninjas who are getting ready to pounce on their intended target and they do it with such cat-like stealth which is very impressive.

In retrospect, when I take a look back at what the kids have done to me, I laugh and smile. Why you may ask? Well, because in a weird way, I know that the kids still like me because they care enough to check how I am doing afterwards when I'm face down or up on the ground. Things have changed over the years since I started back in 1999, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the spirit of fun. When I first started my job, I was a young 19 year old kid that felt no pain the next day after a basketball game with the kids. Now as a 28 year old man, I'm in pain before, during, and after the basketball game with the kids. In the end, after 8 years of taking the best these kids had to offer, I'm still in one piece physically but mentally...not so much.