the post has been found!  not by me, obviously, but by ABN who remained cool and collected as i whimpered that my post had been swallowed whole.  now…i can sleep….

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technically i’m writing this tuesday night at 11:22pm.  but i figure, its best to be early rather than late.  and while my on going topic is WTF WEDNESDAYS, i don’t really discriminate.  i scratch my head, confused a bunch.

today’s topic – DAY CAMP COUNSELOR PAY – WTF?!?

i believe there are two distinct types of people in this world – those who go to camp and those that don’t.  what i’m learning rather quickly is that camp is a broad term, meaning different things to different people and thus referring to extremely different experiences.

until recently, ie. 1.2 weeks ago, camp to me meant sleep-away, pure and simple.  growing up, well, until i was at least 18, sleep-away camp itself was even more narrowly defined as a place on top of a hill, preferably made of dust and rock, with an unbroken 180 degree view of the pacific ocean and cement steps painted repeatedly until at least a 1/4″ thick by past generations of campers.  it was filled with young, equal parts attractive and awkward jews who liked to sing songs, israeli dance, play gaga (in a non-competitive kind of way) and do…well…little else.  at the end of the summer, a term used to describe your stay on top of the hill, you went home with an arm-full of friendship bracelets, a vocabulary that meant nothing to anyone who slept outside your cabin, a head-full of lice and a long list of people who you promised to keep in touch with but rather than actually speak TO them, you simply spoke obsessively ABOUT them until you returned, the next summer, to the top of the hill.

when i went to college i learned that some camps had trees and lasted 8 weeks rather than two.  and there were lakes and real sports and…gasp…hiking.

but stranger still, i am beginning to understand that there is yet another kind of genuine [i'm still not completely convinced] camp experience…day camp.  here, campers young and old take part in week long sessions focused on one intensive skill – like to play instrument?  sign up for rock ‘n’ roll camp.  dream of being on a weatherman?  don’t miss broadcast news.  for those of us that like to indulge, there’s even spa camp…no, i’m not exaggerating (and yes, i’m trying to figure out a way for the camp direc tor to enroll).  it’s a tricky situation, you see.  while some people find it difficult to picture a camp without a lake, this is even more of a reach – we’re talking about camp inside building.  does that make it any less genuine?

i’m learning to expand my horizons.  to understand that campers at MY new camp will be over-programmed – unlike me who’s favorite period of the day was, without a doubt, rest hour.  still, i’m determined to bring a little of my camp on top of the hill to the jerusalem stone, climate controlled, nut-free building.  even if the only thing that these two places have in common is head lice.

because it certainly isn’t the pay.  while my counselors will be paid a starting salary of almost $4000 (is your mouth hanging open?  you must have worked at sleep-away camp too), i was once offered merely a plane ticket in exchange for working (and sleeping) with psychotic (certifiably) campers for an entire session.  and you wonder why i finally left the top of that hill.