Summers are for sun, sand, and relaxation; a good book and a tall dark roast are all I need to keep me happy while I waste away under the blinding rays in the scorching summer heat. At least, you would think. My summers are for working two jobs nonstop to try and save a pretty penny for the upcoming school year while simultaneously balancing various short-term internships and the semblance of a social life. There hasn’t really been much balance in this disaster of an equation.

I told myself that I was going to make plans and go on adventures and maybe even get a nice tan. Instead, I’ve worked nonstop since the beginning of June, and I have three different farmer’s tans. I look like a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich, and when I finally get to go on vacation in a few weeks, I’m going to burn like crazy.

While I haven’t really had time for much of anything interesting, I have found myself in some pretty interesting situations, especially at work. We all know I’m a camp counselor by day and a retail associate by night, and usually my interesting stories come from a long shift working in the misses department. At least once a week I come across an individual while working retail who sparks the creative match in my brain and sends me into a writing trance. But the award for the most irritatingly interesting and frustrating “character” I’ve come across in the past four years goes to an individual who lasted merely a week as a counselor to a group of rowdy children.

A few weeks ago, I had the “pleasure” of working with a new counselor who would be filling in whenever necessary, and this just so happened to be the week where I would be spending the majority of my shifts working primarily with this particular human. Let me preface my description of this individual and his influence on the outcome of the work week by stating that he was the worst kind of human. Let me elaborate.

First impressions are the basis of human interaction. Therefore, it is best to present yourself in the best way possible the first time meeting an individual or a group of individuals. It’s not the smartest idea to show up fifteen-minutes late every day of the work week. It’s also not smart to scroll on your phone for a majority of your shift, disappear and wander around the building for extended periods of time, or never once offer to help me or my afternoon coworker in organizing the activities or supervising the children.

In the span of five days, this man spoke to me directly less than five times. He avoided my stony demeanor, and I’m glad for it because I would have stood on a pint-sized chair and punched him square in the face. One comment he made to my coworker sent me into a rage only subdued by the gentle clacking of the keys as I tell this story.

I’ve mentioned before that there has been one camper giving the counselors issues, but after diligently chipping away at the walls he built against authority, we managed to build a rapport with the camper. He was finally listening to us, and there had been a significant decline in his behavioral issues … until this dude showed up and messed with our flow.

This man’s style of “discipline” was more drill sergeant than camp counselor. Instead of taking minutes away from pool time he was more inclined to make the kids drop and give him twenty. He even had the gall to tell my female coworker that we don’t know how to handle children who act out because of the fact that we are female. This guy was at our camp site for a hot minute, and he was already trying to tell us how to do our jobs, and he was making sexist comments and assumptions on top of all the other unprofessional things he was doing. I was livid.

So many wild occurrences happened during that thirty-hour work week; it’s almost too much to try and explain with the level of irritation and heartbreak my coworker and I experienced at the expense of our campers’ enjoyment and happiness – which is exactly what summer camp is all about.

This “counselor” made the week unbearable for not only the other counselors, but for the campers, as well. When it gets to the point where your campers are telling you that they’re having a horrible time, that’s when you know something must change. I won’t get into the specifics of the situation, but just know that my coworker and I used our female voices to stand up for our campers and for what we believe is right in the workplace. A word to the wise: don’t ever let anyone, specifically a man, tell you that you don’t know what you’re doing because you just so happen to be a female. Stand up for yourself and for what you believe in because the power behind a woman’s voice is just as strong, if not stronger, than this man’s voice ever will be.

This work experience was definitely interesting, but it also taught me a very valuable lesson. This disastrous week of work taught me how to stand up for my campers first and foremost. Children should never be treated the way in which they were treated that week. As a childcare provider, you should never once make assumptions about the children in your care or target them based on word-of-mouth declarations from someone who has not specifically worked one-on-one with these kids. This work week also taught me how to stand up for myself and for what I believe is right, and I’m so grateful that my wonderful coworker shared my sentiments and was with me every step of the way as we used our female voices to show this idiotic man the right way to use your voice in the workplace. Of course, I needed way more coffee than usual to get through that work week, and it kept my tiny, tiny fists calm enough so that I didn’t have to show the man who’s boss.