May 7, 2014

Little Manatee River State Park

Wimauma, FL

We have some VIP guests coming this week so everyone was tasked with some kind of cleanup.
 Sharon got the meeting room all shipshape, while Monte tackled the garage.

I worked my first solo shift at the Ranger Station. It was much busier than I had been used to while I was in training. At one point I walked outside to put away canoe paddles and life vests that were returned from a rental. The cabinet is outside the station so I grabbed the phone to take with me. Good thing I did because it rang while I was outside. While I was giving the caller information, an RV pulled up waiting to be registered. When I walked back to the station, I asked the RV to pull up to the parking area and come inside to register so they wouldn’t be blocking the entrance. While I was registering them, the phone rang again and a car pulled up wanting to pay the entrance fee.   That was pretty much how the entire shift went. 

All in all I think I did well. After explaining to people that it was my first day, for the most part they were patient. I only had one grumpy person who came into the station wanting to extend another night of camping. I had to go to a screen to first check if the site was available for another night and then enter the additional night on a different screen. It is a little bit of a process. The gentleman, who had begun huffing and puffing, finally lost his patience and said that he shouldn’t have to pay for full price for the extra night as I had used up so much of his time already.

I maintained my smile as I handed him his receipt and said, "You have a nice day, now."