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 & Thirty-five: 8/19/2024
Today is the first day of school, well for the sixth grade students. So, though I will need to complete my tasks as usual, my area will be free and clear until tomorrow. I actually appreciate this style of influx. It allows for the youngest ones time to acclimate to the building before the brooding barbarians infiltrate the hallways. Not saying that all of the upperclassmen are mean, but there is a tendency for the older classmates to be insensitive to the innocence of the underclassmen. This is not something I’ve witnessed, but experienced and perhaps contributed to the insensitivity. Though, I was never a high school student attending the same school with sixth graders. I forget how young they really are. Such children.
I did receive a lot of great compliments on my look today. Surprisingly, I’ve done this exact look not that long ago. Well, about eleven months ago. If you scroll through my Instagram you’ll see how I wore my hair with a bow positioned exactly how I did it today. However, I don’t expect everyone to remember every single hairstyle that I do every time that I do it. Wait until they see what I have planned for tomorrow.
Day Four Hundred & Thirty-six: 8/20/2024
Well I survived another start of the school year. My job wasn't too bad the first day with all of the students. Most of them are far too distracted with the beginning of the term to actually make a severe mess. Thus, it wasn’t too bad. However, our quality of work was deemed subpar by our superiors. Oh well, I’m not the evening supervisor. I don’t look at it as my responsibility to monitor the level of execution from my colleagues. If they want to pay me to be a manager then perhaps. Currently, that isn’t the case. I’m at the same level as the rest of the custodial staff.
I’m also not aspiring to become a crew lead or the assistant facility manager. However, if there is a chance to make some more money then maybe I would be inclined to make a change. Adding responsibility to my docket could infringe on my creative endeavors. I’ve been so distracted by life’s struggles that I haven’t had the mental energy to really fall into my artistic pursuits.
I think that’s why I cared so much to channel my creativity into my appearance. If I can feel like an artist then I’m an artist even if I’m only writing a few sentences at a time. I’m hoping that I’ll get into the rhythm of writing prose proficiently. Once one allows themselves to fall from the standard pace of practice it is hard to get back to what’s most important. Being The Teal Fairy is how I cope with being a custodian with all of my learnings and experiences. I know it’s not my end all, but until something else changes I’ll be this fairy fluttering the halls of DSA.
Day Four Hundred & Thirty-seven: 8/21/2024
Why are we asked to do extra work when we are already short staffed? We can only do so much when we are already stranded. It may not seem like a lot of extra work, but enough that it will be difficult to complete in a timely manner. We were asked to tack on additional responsibilities since a coworker was out along with running the floor machine. All while completing our duties at a pristine level. Okay, asking a lot but we will do what we can.
I typed that and then found out that the machine wasn’t working properly. It’s supposed to leave the floors gleaming with no footprints or markings. Well, there is something wrong with the water distribution. So instead of actually cleaning the floor it dry scraped the perfectly waxed tiles. It left nasty looking streaks all up and down the hallways. Can’t be corrected until the machine is looked at. That’s beyond my pay grade.
I’m quite tired after I did all of my tasks. I don’t believe that we are fully staffed because it’s not fair that I was working up until 10pm, however, my fellow coworkers finished much earlier than me. Are they rushing through their duties? Is the distribution of work unfair? This will be something I’ll have to research. For tonight, I’ll just resolve the fact that my responsibilities were more time consuming than theirs.
Day Four Hundred & Thirty-eight: 8/22/2024
I saw something today that brought back a memory that I hadn’t thought about in years. I was on my way to my area and I noticed a young man wearing bright pink converse sneakers. Something I hadn’t seen in years. In fact I wish I still owned mine, but then they would be over twenty years old.
When I was in high school I was one of the youngest people to come out as gay in my hometown. As an act of defiance and protest against those that showed me prejudice I wore pink converses. They were my statement that I wasn’t afraid of them and I was going to be who I was no matter the horrible things they did or said to me.
These shoes were my protection. They worked like a pair of vibrant ruby red slippers. When I had them on I believed that I could flutter through the halls without fear of ignorance. Eventually, it became a trend and others started to wear pink converse. I was quite annoyed because I didn’t want to be a part of a trend, I wanted to be the individual, however, I suppose others just couldn’t help themselves.
I couldn’t tell you what happened to them. I wore them until they couldn’t be worn any further. Well, when I saw them on this young man I had an instant wave of nostalgia. Though, I doubt their need or want to wear such fashionable footwear from fear. I’m so envious that the student body doesn’t have to deal with such hatred that I had to.
Day Four Hundred & Thirty-nine: 8/23/2024
Fridays are great because they mean the weekend is almost here. However, Fridays also bring more work. I don’t mean to sound lazy but this Friday I had a lot more to do. Even though we had staff we were advised or told that we needed to do all of our extras along with our usual run. That includes more detail work which really takes up time.
I probably could’ve had more time, but I chose to sit for a longer period of time. I really shouldn’t have done that because I was rushing at the end. Though, I can’t help myself. If I have fifteen minutes to sit then I’d prefer to do that. Though, I didn’t get up for forty minutes. Oops! I would get in serious trouble if I had been caught being lazy.
I definitely didn’t lapse in my efforts to look good. As the week progressed I also increased the height of my hair. It wasn’t the intention as I started my week, but since it was the first full week back I thought I would bring forth as much as I could to set the tone for the rest of the year.
Honestly, this look is fabulous. I couldn’t help myself and I took a round of pictures. Each time I found good lighting I had to change the angle and capture the visage of this vision. Between the hair and the eyes, I’m fabulous. I’ll state this because I’m not going to wait to hear from anyone else. If you don’t strut your stuff, then are you a real fabulous fairy?
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