On the Job

We started work on Friday, shuttling people to and from the beach. The four of us, Me, Chris, Blake, and Amanda, have been working ridiculously long days mainly because we don't have enough employees yet and  we're the only ones that are allowed to be full time. We work at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve where people go to snorkel, dive, and hang out on the beach. The bay opens at 6:00am and closes at 7:00pm.On Friday the four of us worked from 5:30am to 7:05pm. It was a really long day. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were only slightly shorter for Amanda and I, because we were exhausted and demanded to go home and relax. Plus our husbands are in charge so they can't exactly say no to that. The bay is closed on Tuesday so I finally have a day off today. So I took some pictures so you guys could get a feel of my place of work.

I took these everyday before work. Notice how my enthusiasm slowly drains from day one to day four.

These are the vehicles we drive people in. We drive them a quarter mile down a pretty steep hill into the bay.  The jeeps and trams are decorated like fish you can find snorkeling in the bay. The first one is the Hawaiian state fish known as the humu humu nuku nuku apuaa. The second one is the Kihe Kihe and the third one is the kikakapu. The last picture is of our stretch golf carts that we use to transport people in wheel chairs. If you can't tell, it has sea turtles all over it.

To the left of this one is a picture of the bay. It's the view I have everyday if I'm working as a cashier at the top of the hill. The picture on the top right is the temporary rock desk where the main cash register is. Soon we'll have an actual building there, but the design has to go through several government committees before it will be approved. There are also mobile units for all the cashiers. They are ipods with a program on them that is just like the cash register and it has a place to swipe credit cards. They are hooked up wirelessly to a machine that spits out receipts that we hook to our belts. The next picture is of Chris to show you our fancy bright orange t-shirts we get to wear. The last picture is showing you the wrist bands that I put on people all day while I am a cashier. People have the option of buying an all day pass which gets them up and down the hill in the tram as many times as they want. If they do that, they get a wrist band.

It's interesting the things I have noticed while looking at people's wrists all day.
1. Most oriental men have zero to three hairs on their arms.
2. 95% of oriental women and beautiful ornate finger nails. I'm talking finger nails that look like this and then some.
3. I also get to notice people's beautiful wedding rings. It's like a ring fashion show.
4. I could put a wrist band perfectly on ten people but when I get to a man with a ton of arm hair, without fail  I end up sticking the sticky part right on his arm. Oops.

Since I've started working, I've also gotten compliments on my smile. Which is a little random but very flattering. The owner of the company jokes that I am the smiler on duty so if any of the other employees are having a hard time being happy and smiley, to come see me.

During the lulls and the down time when people aren't buying tickets, or when people are waiting for the tram to go down, I get to chat with some of the tourists. I've met people from all over the world. A lot of people yesterday were from Australia. The majority of the people I have met are from California. But I've also met people from most of the 50 states, China, Japan, Korea, England, and Scotland.

Yesterday I was working at the bottom of the hill and before it got really busy for the lunch rush (people wanting to leave to go get lunch.) I was talking to a nice man from Colorado. His name was Chris. No, he wasn't my husband, but that is a random coincidence. Anyway, we were just chatting about snorkeling and life and whatnot and then he got on the tram and headed up. He rode the tram quite a few times so I saw him  a few other times and he must have heard me at some point say that I was ready for lunch because the next time I saw him, he brought me a snicker's bar. Not a moment too soon either because right after that I had a HUGE rush of people. People are so nice.

I also met four women who were just having the time of their lives. Laughing and joking and giggling and walking a little crooked. (hmm). But they were absolutely hilarious. One woman kept pulling money and receipts out of her bathing suit top and laughing like a hyena. Then she said there was somewhere else she could shove it but it wouldn't come out quite as clean. "Wanna come play with us, honey??" She said as they stumbled onto the tram. Did I ever!

Oh and on a side note, wet money is really disgusting.

Anywho, I love my new job. I will just love it even more when I'm not working such long hours. My feet are in so much pain from standing all day, I can't even think straight. But today is my day to relax. Oh and also do all the house work I have been neglecting. *sigh*.