Camp Joy

"Where counselors die daily"


That's the most remembered quote from Camp Joy. Camp Joy was a free summer camp for kids living in the inner city. I gave up four summers of my life to work there. It was definitely a once in a life time sort of experience. Anyone who has ever traded their summer vacations for a summer of hot humid weather, screaming kids and a paycheck that might buy a few necessities if you were lucky knows exactly what I'm talking about. It is deeply rewarding and trying at the same time.

I wore many different hats during those four summers. My jobs ranged from counselor to kitchen help with first aid thrown in for good measure. Bleach became my favorite cleaning aid and bug spray was my perfume of choice. There was no air conditioning in the remodeled cabins (though they were eventually installed), so we slept with box fans and an open door. I put my box fan in front of the door, my attempt in keeping  racoons out.

The kids, for the most part, were fun. Many of them came from foster homes or had stories of the tough life they were leading. It was truly a priveledge to show them love and attention for a week, something they rarely, if ever, saw at home. There were other kids though who led a more priveleged life. They came to camp because their parents had come to camp years before and it was tradition. The first week of camp, however, was set aside for the church kids. Church kids often meant campers with a sense of entitlement. Always fun to hear the threat "I'm going to tell 'so and so' if 'such and such' doesn't happen". They weren't all that bad. My first week of camp (ever) I was given the joy of having an angel placed in my cabin, an angel in the sense that she was an angel from my own personal hell. I am pretty sure God was trying to test my patience and make me question my decision about working at camp in the first place. To give you an idea of what I was up against, most kids are sent to camp with any medications they may have for allergies or ADHD, but this angel's parents decided that this particular week was the perfect time to see how she did without her medication. Lucky me.

There was no indoor plumbing in the cabins. Bathrooms were in the process of being installed, but at the time the only thing in those extra little rooms was linoleum flooring. The cabins themselves stood at the top of an enormous hill, a small mountain if you will... so tall that the thought of going back up the hill because you forgot something would make you cry. The only available bathrooms were in the gym. In the morning the campers were woken up and we would all go down the mountain and wait for the campers to have their turn in the bathrooms. The biggest rule at camp was for campers and counselors to stay together so a camper wasn't allowed to just go down the mountain and to the restroom by themselves (they had more than one camper try to run away...)
 
My angel did not understand or care about this rule. Every morning she would wake up and try to come up with a reason why she should go ahead of everyone else.... "Miss Bethany, I need to brush my teeth", "Miss Bethany my parents told me to tell you to let me go to the bathroom by myself", "Miss Bethany, I hate you". Always a ray of sunshine. By the end of the week we had both had enough of each other. When Friday morning came she got up and told me she was going to the bathroom. I told her she was, as soon as everyone else was ready to go too. She turned and walked out the door. "Oh, Angel," I said as sugary sweet as I can, "get back in this cabin until I say it is time to go." "But Miss Bethany" she says, "I really need to brush my teeth." "Your teeth can wait 5 minutes." With an evil scowl she walked to her bunk and sat, plotting her revenge.

Five minutes later, when all the beds were made and clothes changed I tell the girls to line up outside. Everyone is there, except the little angel. We wait and wait and she finally emerges, with an evil grin on her face. I wonder what she has done, but I figure the faster we get down the mountain the quicker the day will be over and she will go home. We descend the mountain for the morning rituals of bathroom and breakfast and then go back up the mountain to get everything ready to go home later. Campers would always beat the counselors up the mountain, and when I get to my cabin I am bombarded with exclamations of "Miss Bethany, Miss Bethany... Someone peed in the floor!" Many things start running through my mind... maybe a construction worker couldn't hold it and decided that my cabin was the place to go... maybe a raccoon got in and decided to make use of the unfinished bathroom... maybe all the cups that held the frogs that had been caught and stored in the unfinished bathroom for the upcoming frog race had tipped over, simultaneously, and spilled in the floor. All of these things could have made sense, until I noticed that everyone was up in arms about the puddle except the sweet little angel. She was just sitting on her bunk, with a little smirk on her face that made me want to smack it off. I survey the damage and ask the obvious, "Who peed in the floor?" Every single child in that cabin would deny the allegations except the angel. Her response before I even had a chance to ask her?? "Why is everyone blaming me? I didn't do it. Quit blaming me." Telling?

I asked another counselor to watch my cabin and I walked down the mountain before I had a chance to do anything I might get in trouble for later and told one of the directors about it. They sent someone up to clean the mess and told me they were surprised that I actually got through an entire week with her... she is typically sent home... a triumph I guess but a small consolation considering the week I had endured. She had gotten her revenge I guess... but the jokes on her because I get to blog about her... and if you ask, I may just tell you who she is. :)