|
So I've started myself a new job. Found in an act of desperation at three o'clock in the morning I half heartedly applied and found myself offered a job at noon the next day. I'm yet to determine if it was a God send or not.
But as it is, I'm here on the east coast working as a tree planter. I don't know if anyone will read this, and if they do read this I don't know if they've ever tree planted but you want to know what my boss told my group on my first day? He stood there in front of us with a cocky little smirk on his face and told us proudly that we will most likely never do anything as difficult in our lives. We will never work so hard for the money we make. We will hate our job but give it enough time and we will love the money. He was right. I don't know know about the money part yet because truthfully I've only worked for two days. But he was right. I wake up at 4:30 every morning to haul myself out of bed and pull on the same dirty clothing I was wearing the day before. You can't really wear anything out tree planting that you don't want to rip, get dirty, and doesn't repel rain. I've only got one pair of rain pants so they usually have to make due. Then I eat as much breakfast as I can because I don't know when I'll be able to eat again, waterproof my boots by craftily shoving plastic bags in under my insoles and tying them around my calf, brush my teeth, shove on my hat, check my bag, and then walk out the door. I walk the 20 minute walk to the central meeting point in the dark with a 4L water bottle under my arm praying that it'll be enough. The only time I've ever really seen 4:30am before was when I was getting home from a party or heading out for a flight. Now 4:30 is just the start of my day.
Then we're left by six, planting by seven straight through 'till 3:30. You eat and drink when you bag out. That's the only time you really want to take a second because otherwise your steady go trying to plant as many trees in as little time as possible hoping you don't crack your neck when you slip on a log or trip over a branch. It takes me about three hours to bag out, meaning I've planted 225 trees and made a solid $13.50. Sounds like slave labor right? The rookies are only expected to bag out two or three times a day for the first week. Meaning we make about $30 a day for ten hours of hard labor. By the second full week we should be up to five or six hopefully. Third week, eight. That's the magic number, eight. That's three trees per minute in a ten hour day. When I think about it, it seems ******** impossible. Three trees per minute! But some of the experienced planters even get twelve per day. I think they're insane. Or octopi with a seven foot reach.
So two days of this and I'm nearly ready to quit. I come home tired, filthy, and aching from head to toe. I stay awake long enough to shower, eat, and maybe watch a show or two. I'm asleep by eight only to do it all again the next day.
It's not even so much the job that makes me want to quit, it's the pay. Last week I busted my a** for two days to make $50 for the week. I have to pay $350 a month for rent here and by the looks of it I'll be working to make rent and groceries which just isn't good enough. I took this job to make money for school in the coming year but it just isn't working out. I don't have a few months to get better like one of my friends is telling me. She says that everyone loses money in the first month or so but all the planters she knows live in camps and gets free groceries. I live in an apartment building and have to pay for every morsel which enters my body. I don't have time to lose money especially when I have an option B.
My option B consists of moving home and working full time at some customer service job for minimum wage. Minimum wage being $9 might I add. I don't pay rent, I don't pay for groceries, I don't have to cook for myself constantly, I don't come home every day exhausted and dehydrated, bruised and battered. But I also don't get the luxury of living on my own, being able to do pretty well whatever I want, meet new people in a new place, work outside everyday, and get in unbelievable shape.
Rough situation eh?
|
