Quit this job about a year ago, but I’ll occasionally still find myself getting really frustrated at his existence and the things he said.
So for context, I am a college student and it was one of those summer camp type jobs that somehow are able to pay less than minimum wage (I’m talking like 200 bucks a week. In my head I didn’t have a lot of expenses and I was interested in the kind of place it was and was looking for some kind of community). It was on a “farm” where there were animals, and the idea was kinda based in Montessori ideals, i.e., giving kids the resources and autonomy to manage things and learn on their own time. Not a bad idea, but the reality fell way short.
The main cause of all the issues was the boss and owner of the farm. Not a terrible human being, just TERRIBLE at managing people and such a hot garbage as a boss.
First off, he completely misrepresented the job duties. He made it seem like it was a camp counselor kind of job. That I had done before, and understood the gist of it. He did not mention that part of the job was working weekends making food for wealthy idiots who come to stay at his stupid farm for “farm fresh eggs” that he actually got from Walmart, and he also failed to mention the level of physical labor, like actual farm labor, involved in the job. We got less than a week of training for everything on the farm despite most of us knowing little to nothing about how to run a farm or use equipment. Also, this “farm camp”, that kid's parents would pay like a thousand dollars for them to attend a week of, was basically just a farm labor camp. Like 75% of the “activities” that he had the kids do were just like farm chores, including mucking the pig and chicken stalls, weeding thistles (yes, weeding thistles), and all kinds of cleaning. He seemed to just have no idea that most kids are not interested in things like maintaining farm equipment: One time a kid passively asked what this little heating contraption was and cornered the kid for like half an hour explaining all of the various mechanisms inside of it. The most fun any of us or the kids ever had at that place was when he was gone for the weekend and we got to just do fun normal summer camp type activities, like picking berries and playing card games. I even suggested that we do more art projects (I told him during the interview that I'm an artist and a creative person and I'd love to engage kids in projects like that) – I said, “Hey we have that unpainted and unfinished trellis (it was so ugly) and it would be fun to have the kids paint it whatever they want like a mural”, to which he basically said that kids are bad at art and he doesn't want parents who visit on the weekends to see that.
Also, this guy would never shut the f up. If he was in the room, he needed to be talking and everyone needed to be listening to him, no matter how unnecessary or obvious or out of touch the shit he was saying was. One time when we were playing Apple to Apples with the kids, he came up just to hover and make moralistic comments about the cards people were putting down – one of the cards was “Tree Hugger”, and a kid put down “Murderous”, to which he said: “They're not murderous, they're just stupid.” And looked around smiling and looking for approval. I'm an environmentalist, so yeah fuck him. He just generally made everyone uncomfortable whenever he was in the room.
The cherry on top of this guy's stupid head, and the thing that ultimately made me leave was that he talked badly about his employees to other employees. He called me unreliable to a coworker/friend of mine, would constantly make side comments insinuating that he thought I was selfish (How am I selfish for suggesting that we make a particular dish for the kids because I've had it before and it's delicious?), mutter under his breath about how the cook took too long and was messy, once the kids and I were making funny voices and I said jokingly “Sometimes I carve faces into trees just so I'll have someone to talk to” to which he responded “That I believe” (He had a weird thing about how I spent time alone) and then one day, this happened: There was pizza for dinner, and I asked for a center piece (Is that like a crazy request or something?), and he said, “You are nothing if not particular” 🙁 that hurt, and I said, “no, that's not true”, and he said “oh, yes it is.” I rolled my eyes and walked away, and then later a CAMPER told me that after I walked away he said under his breath “I've been listening to her talk for a month and all she ever talks about is herself.” That really made me feel like shit, and I handed in my two weeks the next day. Also, WHAT THE FUcK? WHEN HAVE YOU LISTENED TO ME TALK? I DON'T TALK TO YOU BECAUSE YOU MAKE ME UNCOMFORTABLE AND ALSO YOU NEVER SHUT THE FUCK UP!! I still wish I could have it out with him.
He's also straight up involved in some shady tax business. He used to be a banker (and a Trumper), which just adds to my suspicions. Also, was having someone who has no training in the medical field track and administer medication, which is n o t legal.
Am I being too sensitive? I have kind of high expectations for the behavior of people in my life, and he just really fuckin rubbed me the wrong way. I kinda wish I could say what the name of the business is so that people know not to ever go work there, but I know that’s a no-no, so I’ll just say that it’s in the Midwest. How the hell do these people get away with paying so little, especially since this type of summer camp job is by far the hardest I've ever had to work and the most exhausted I've ever been?