Fourth Weekend!

Working four nights in a row without having your costume washed? Not
pleasant. Not for you or anyone else within a 20 foot radius of you for
that matter.

Good thing I called out for two of the nights. I guess I had to learn that
life gets in the way of scaring from time to time.

Unfortunately, I also had to learn to share this weekend.

You see, there are several noisemakers to choose from to use in our zone. I always called dibs on this one that cranks. Think human bones on a cheese grater.

Anyway, this other kid discovered it when I was busy banging mallets on barrels.
But, lets just say that he had to learn to share as well.

When I wasn't using the crank, I learned to use a new toy. It is a large,
wooden slap stick that sounds like a whip when used properly. I
eventually got the hang of it, but not before I ended up hitting myself
a half a dozen times. The slap stick felt as though it would fall
apart at any moment. All I could think was that the prop was going to
break and wood would fly apart and hit a guest in the face. So I slapped harder.


"You're just evil with that thing," a zone manager told me.
Mother would be proud.

The first night I worked, I did an hour and a half shift. Which,
I'm sure sounds like a glorious thing to those who have never worked at Howl-O-Scream. But, believe me, it is not.

While working at HOS, employees get breaks every half hour for a
half hour. There is also and hour break thrown in there for lunch. So
basically, we work half the time. The best part is that we only get
our pay deducted for one of the breaks.

Well that night, I covered this girl's shift and thought I was going to die from the heat.

But I have concluded that the real reason Busch Gardens gives its HOS employees so many breaks is because employees need time for their frustrations with guests to subside.

Highlights of the weekend:

Worst: I scared a guy and he nearly punched me in the face. I ducked out of the way right in time.

Funniest: A coworker and I accidentally scared each other.

Best: I was doing my infamous "crazy dance" when I heard a
girl coming up behind me say, "This girl is crazy. She doesn't know
what she's doing." I took it as my cue to scare. She ran the other way
yelling, "Yes she does!"

Weirdest: Bird man asking me if he looks better with his regular nose or beak.