beach house.

my very first job during college was renting out beach houses in a popular beach town. that was a truly interesting experience. my boss was botox-addicted dude with blonde hair extensions, if that gives you any idea of what i mean when i say "interesting." a typical work day was to go to the office, find out which property was scheduled for checking in or out, gather cleaning supplies/linens, pick up some mexicans at a gas station, clean checked-out homes, and checking new people in a few hours later. everyday was a new adventure. what kind of mexicans will i get? do they want del taco or taco bell for lunch? am i going to find a used condom under the comforter?

there were only about 7-8 of us at the office at any given time, running the entire thing. the boss dude, a guy in charge of money, two guys running the website that generated most of it not all the reservations, an office manager, another girl, and me. the girl and i were the same age and even went to the same community college at the time. except for one of the website guys that still randomly contacts me (even though he's in ohio or some very white state that is not here), i don't know where any of them are now. i even tried searching for the company but there are too many generic beach house rental places to filter through.

days where i stayed in the office were rare and unproductive. i think i bought a lot of shoes. there was one time i answered the phone. an angry sounding woman was on the other line, demanding to know the details of a certain reservation. i think we had given them a confirmation call, but she was not aware of the vacation. well, that cheating dude sure fucked up.


field days weren't as fun as it sounds, though. i was on my hands and knees scrubbing linoleum, fixing broken blinds, replacing missing utensils and other bullshit on the checklist. the mexicans were mostly there to fix bigger broken things, like sliding doors or leaking roofs. we had the obligatory deposit to deter people from leaving the house a mess, but it didn't really work. check-out was usually around noon, so we had only a couple of hours to power clean before the next client came. i've rented beach houses with friends before, all good experiences. here's some advice from someone who's been on the other side: bring your own blankets/comforters/pillow covers. just because it looks clean doesn't mean it is.