I think that in a lot of cases, it depends on the person.
Some people can’t stand that type of life.
And some people love it. They are really able to develop an understanding of a park if they can be there for awhile, rather than the one-to-two year stopover and they’re off to something else.
Seasonal are kind of getting that way. I remember some coming in and saying I’m just going to be here one year, announce it from the beginning and going on to another park the following year. It’s great to have that experience but it’s kind of nice to have depth for people. That was the part I probably enjoyed the most about my job, was being able to answer peoples’ inquiries easily after a lot of studying. We used to have an old saying in the park, “It’s a question only once”. The next time you should be able to answer it very easily. I always kept 3 x 5 cards in my pocket. When somebody’d come up with a question I couldn’t answer, they’d write their name and address on one side and the question on the other and within a week I’d try to have a letter to them.
Not really.
Was this basically your own initiative?
I guess because I was always so curious about things, I wanted to make sure to answer whatever questions visitors had. So many times you go into a park, and I’ve been in probably 150-160 park areas. I always have three or four basic questions I ask. First, to see what level I’m talking to, my little test. Then I look at their uniform to see what kind of person they are and then maybe you can get going on something. But I find the majority of the people working in the parks are very unknowledgeable of their area. I’m just shocked. It just leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth to know that they’re not even trying.
