People we work with

 

One of the more interesting things about this summer has been the various characters Opal and I have got to work with. We are just now starting to feel like we are figuring people out, here are some of them:

1.       Angelo runs the marina. He is around sixty years old and has a Italian accent. Although he is a ‘high up’ in the operation he lives in the dorms. His dorm is referred to as “Club Angelo”, sometimes when I am out fishing look back and see his door open with rave music blasting. Angelo believes without him this whole pace would fall apart.

2.       Ali is a front desk worker. She is in her thirties which makes her the third youngest person only older than Opal and myself. She is chatty and friendly. She does not get along with Dennis.

3.       Brandi works in the restaurant. She let me take home her mobile Wi-Fi router for my NREMT test, which is just one example of her generosity. At her birthday party Brandi karate chopped a slice of cake. She is the unofficial manager of the restaurant and is always fun to talk to when stopping in to fill up your water bottle. She is always saying to Opal “you guys have to come back in the winter when this place doesn’t suck”

4.     Cassius is the dishwasher. He ran over a crocodile and totaled his car. Now there are signs telling cars to “slow down crocodiles on road ahead”.

5.       Charles is my coworker in the maintenance department. He looks like he is 30 but claims to be 55. He has told me a good deal about his life but after hearing that he was a Marine sniper deployed into North Korea I am not sure if any of it is true. He collects knifes and gives out advice on my marriage with Opal although, I doubt Opal would want me to take any of it.

6.       Cook. There is a new cook who got a job here. His background check has not gone through yet though, so he is not an employee yet. The other day when looking for a dark spot to take photos of the night sky we found him living in his car by the amphitheater. Florida.

7.       Craig is the only permanent worker in the Marina store. He worked for the operation before it was reconstructed a few years ago. Although he is not the longest continuous working employee, I believe he started working here before anyone else. He is a big Green Bay Packers fan.

8.       Cheese helps on the backcountry boat tours. He is from Guinea and is hard to understand. I have never heard of him referred to anything, but cheese and his name tag says cheese.

9.     Dee is our human resources person; she is kind of annoying.

10.  Dennis is another one of my coworkers. He is about 5’2 and 70 some years old. Dennis is wanted in Alaska, California and Louisiana mostly for fighting people. He has had a variety of previous jobs including commercial fishing, a meat delivery business, and owning a hotel. Dennis has sunk several boats and been in a half dozen motorcycle crashes. He is very kind and would be happy to talk to you about his life. He does not get along with Ali.

11.  Eric works in the same position as Brandi. He puts on movies in the restaurant like Shrek and The Bayou which is about alligators on cocaine.

12.  Frank is my boss. He is a 62 year old Cuban. Frank and I get along well, he is kind and makes sure we are not overworked. Frank makes very good espresso in the mornings and will often buy soda, ice cream or beer for us maintenance workers after long hot days. Frank speaks good English but does most of his communicating through hand gestures and sound effects.

13.  Ken was the manager of the restaurant before he was fired. He was 82 years old.

14.  Lyles is one of the boat captains at the marina. He is pretty normal compared to most here and a python removal agent. The other night when we were out taking photos of the stars, a truck pulled up to us and we heard “what are you kids doin’ out here” It took us a second to realize it was Lyles on his nightly python runs. He once offered to show us a live six foot python he was keeping in his room on ice. You never know what’s living in the dorm next to you.

15.  Margret is the top manager here. She cares a lot about the employees. She is overworked because we have so few employees, she often must do other people’s jobs on their days off. For example, she works as the marina store cashier two days a week.

16.  Mikey is the bartender. He specializes in being grumpy, but customers seem to like him. He and I (opal) have a thing going where we only have one conversation per shift, the rest of the time we just silently judge people and nod at each other.

17.  Marvin and Marquis are the cooks. They tend to make fun of me (opal) every time I walk back into the kitchen. They do this to everyone. Marvin has a thick Jamaican accent and listens to a lot of Katy Perry. Marquis calls me O and makes the best quesadillas out of all the cooks.

18.   Shawn is the sous chef. He has one of the thickest southern accents I have ever heard and is a true deadhead. Every time he works you are sure to hear Casey Jones or Althea playing in the kitchen. He is also engaged/married to Brandi, I’m not sure which and at this point it’s too late to ask.