Temptations of working for the Rich

As this week draws to a close, I reflect on how somewhat easy and really cushy this job has been.

The SPARK middle school parents pay I think somewhere in the range of $1,000-2,0000/week to send their kids to Brown to learn about science for a week, or basically a rich, smart kid version of camp. I say this knowing I am fairly wealthy by world standards, but is ceases to amaze me how spoiled or well-taken care of the kids here are.

For one, its camp. These kids all got college singles that are larger than the room that Laura and I together will share next year. Yes, there isn't airconditioning....but I haven't been hot at all, the weather is beautiful. There is no cleaning involved, unlike every other camp I've been to that required kitchen duty or bathroom cleaning, something. The food is great....well I'm not picky, but even when we leave campus we get catered lunches, no one is required to drink anything other than bottled water, we bought individual packets of popcorn for the movie, and the closing reception had pastieries and fresh fruit.....I mind you this is camp! Or maybe it really isn't.

I also see in myself here the strong temptation to get used to the ability here to live the "good life," and take all the perks that come along with being with the rich or working closely with them. I'm getting paid almost double what I got paid at KAA, and at the end of the day I'm really only working 14 days with kids, free room and board for about 3 other weeks involved, its crazy. I get free fancy pizza and ben and jerry's at least weekly, other free treats as well.

The parents have bought me presents on top of already paying tuition for their kids here. Amongst those things that I have received so far include a ton of leftover snacks, a brown nalgene bottle, a necklace, a sizeable Barne's and Noble gift card and $100 cash, and this is only for somewhat watching their kids for 6 days! Wow, how nice, yet how scary to think I could get used to this kind of showering of gifts.

The job of watching kids here is just so different than anything ever was at KAA--at KAA all free time/evening activities were for getting to know new kids and making sure you were with kids all the time, I remember the mantra "if you're with another counselor and there aren't tons of kids along...you are wrong!" When they got in trouble, we ran sprints with them. We only got 2.5 days off. I taught sports classes outside in the hot sun all day long. Seems worlds away now as I am able to shower daily, have my own room, use a computer and sleep in a real bed. But maybe this isn't comparable, it isn't really "camp." Here all the counselors hang out together during events, the kids are for the most part extremely well-behaved, and the problems are pretty much non-existent.