Nine weeks in and I can see the end of the tunnel. My contract will end July 29th and this year has really left me exhausted. I am looking forward to packing up and taking a slow drive home. My back, legs and knees are really taking a beating this year. I think it has a lot to do with me getting older and not that the work is getting tougher. The weather here has been cool in the morning, sometimes around 28 degrees, then up to 60 degrees in the afternoon. Don't think that 60 degrees is cold, because when you are 8,000 feet up the sun really beats down on you. When it is a sunny day I have to stock water and Gatorade about twice as many times as when the temps are 40. This past week we have had storms roll in during the afternoon. Mountain storms come up fast and rain big drops and then the sun will come out. Only one day this week did we have it rain and lightening for an extended time. The rain still did not scare off the tourists. They have been coming in droves when the doors open at 9AM and they keep coming until the store closes at 8PM.
We had several highlights/lowlights this week. We had an elderly gentleman take a bad fall on our concrete steps. He said his knee buckled and when he went down he busted his head on the concrete step and cut a gash almost to the bone. Like all head wounds, he was bleeding bad. The clinic and rangers were called and got there as fast as they could with all the traffic. Jim, our excellent second in command, was a former sheriff and he knew basic first aid and got pressure on the wound. He has been great during these stressful situations. The ambulance came and took him to the clinic. I heard the helicopter later in the day and I guessed he was transported out of the park to a local hospital. Local meaning 2.5 hours away by car.
We had an elderly woman get light headed and was struggling to stand. The floor supervisor got her a chair and she thought she was having a heart attack. Jim arrived and wanted to call an ambulance, but the husband in a loud voice declared: "We don't need an ambulance, it does not matter if she lives or dies!" This startled Jim and made the ladies who were waiting for the bathroom want to lynch the guy. Theresa, another floor supervisor, took the lady by the hand and took her to the bathroom. The husband was still being loud and demanding. Jim could take it no more and got in the guys face and said, "When she comes back, if she wants an ambulance I will call one. Also stop yelling at me." When the lady came back out she indicated she did not want an ambulance. So Jim helped her, and escorted her husband, out of the store and to their car. The guy apologized to Jim for being loud and Jim accepted his apology. Jim told me later that his apology was weak and could have meant more if he apologized while in the store in front of all the ladies who wanted him strung up for the way he was treating his wife.
Jim had to intervene in another situation. People came into the store and wanted the boss to call the park rangers. It seems that a father was in the parking lot hitting his kid with a closed fist. Beating a child that looked like he was 6 or 7 years old. Jim went into the parking lot while the store called the rangers. He stoped the hitting and talked to the guy long enough for the rangers to arrive. Once the rangers arrived they were informed on what went on. Jim left when the rangers took over. We have two mothers working in our store and they both came to me and told me how mad they were about witnessing this situation. They were very agitated, but one of them came to me and said, "I know your a religious guy. Can we pray for this child?" I said yes and we held hands in the grocery stock room and I prayed for the child and I also prayed for the father. God is good. Later that day I think God answered prayer in a way to calm down these two ladies who were so upset. You see a cat entered the store and no one claimed the cat. So the two ladies took the cat to the store office and got some cat food and fed the cat. They both got to hold the cat and the cat seemed to like being held and I think the two ladies stress was relieved by this cat. They called the park rangers and they came and one ranger took the cat. From what I hear that ranger will keep the cat if no one ever comes to claim it. See picture below.
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| A very large and happy cat rescued |
We always seem to have employee turnover here, but a funny one happened to our lower store. The young lady that was hired to run the lower grocery store decided she wanted to work for Xantera. She left and I guess she decided Delaware North was better than Xantera, as she asked for her old job back. She was informed that she could not have her old job back but she could come back as a stocker. She then took up with an EDR cook and before you know it she and the EDR cook ran off together. So the lower store lost two employees and they then elavated their custodian to cooking in the EDR. Working here is like watching the old TV show Peyton Place.
The first day off I decided I wanted to hike the Hellroaring Creek trail. This trail takes you down 600 feet to the Yellowstone River and you get to cross a suspension bridge over the river. Then after the bridge you hike through a forest and an meadow to Hellroaring Creek. It was a great day and I enjoyed the hike, but the hard part is to climb the 600 feet back up to the parking lot. I am 64 years old and this hike was great, but this will be the last time I try that elevation. You can see pictures from this hike below. Tomorrow I will be taking my truck to Idaho Falls to get the oil changed and tires rotated.
Thanks for reading and please pray for me and those I work for, as this place has many stresses and many temptations. Sometimes the young guys and gals make the wrong choices.
