Franklin County Fair was the first one of about ten fairs where we are going to be this summer. Two days ago Peter, Mike and Tomas flew to Miami and left me, Tereza and Pavel at Knox County Fair, which takes place in a nice town of Mt. Vernon. However, let's go back to last week...
On Friday July 11, Ryan, Tomas, Pavel and I moved to Columbus. Trailers were already there since boys took them there on Wednesday when they picked up Tomas at the airport. We brought our new camper though. It's a luxurious one with three rooms and a bathroom. Its only disadvantage is that beds aren't long enough for tall European boys. Charlie's camper is set right next to ours so Ales and Peter don't have to walk more than a few steps when they come to visit us. On Monday night we had a big birthday party - Tereza celebrated her 22. Thus despite slight differences in school grades these days all eight of us are 22 years old. Linn Enterprises have three trailers here: Gyros, Lemonade and Shaved Ice. We open at 10.30 am and close at 10.30 pm. During the day we have 2 hours of breaks. The weather is beautiful - over 90 degrees - but this fair isn't very busy. Most of time Peter and I are in Gyros, Tomas and Tereza in Lemonade, and Mike with Pavel in Shaved Ice. However, we switch sometimes so that everyone experiences working with everyone.
On Sunday evening Ryan left and didn't come back before Thursday. In my opinion, it's the best thing a boss can say: "I trust my crew so much that I can leave for several days and I don't need to worry how the business in my trailers goes." We don't need a supervisor to be at work in time, behave properly and do at least everything that is necessary. Ryan deserves this for his approach and the way he treats us. Maybe we don't earn as much as we possibly could in some other job, but we would hardly find other boss like him. Well, just Charlie.
Before I came here again many people asked me WHY. Why US? Why Ohio? Why such a boring job like selling gyros to fat and stupid Americans in that agricultural piece of country? I didn't know what I should answer. They were partly right. And I was positive that I wouldn't come for the third time to miss all nice summer events in Europe. But now when I am back in the Linn Enterprises crew I know exactly WHY. Maybe I still wouldn't be able to give a satisfying answer to those who asked, but the feeling is clear. I don't like other food concessions' trailers, I don't like rides or games, nor do I like all those animal shows or tractor pulling. Though I like the fairs. I don't like country in general, though I like Ohio. I could make a long list of such "dislikes" and "though likes". Sounds kind of like schizophrenia? Simple being here, being a part of this reality makes me enjoy every hour. Last year I thought that the summer was quite nice. But I was wrong. Compared to this one (so far) it was pretty bad. Now I realize the difference. Now I see what a good atmosphere among the crew means. Feels like if all the flaws we experienced last year fade away with turning a page in a calendar.
On the other hand, some little details remained exactly the same, which made me feel like if I had never left when I came to Ohio on July 2. I found my pink watch in Puma Unleashed right at the place where I left it. I found the same soap and magazine in a bathroom. I found a stack of my clothes in a closet. And above all, I found several people heartily welcoming me back. I am here not to earn fortune. I had to pay a lot just to get here and I am going to spend a lot on traveling. We don't get much more than the minimum wage is but none of us would change. If we searched long enough we might find a job where we would get 10 or more dollars per hour instead of 6, nevertheless, we would never find a boss like Ryan. Who else takes his crew out in the evening? Who else makes sure that everyone has a comfortable bed to sleep in and then goes to sleep in a truck or on a couch? Who else brings breakfasts, lunches and dinners to his crew? Who else cares about his employees' personal problems? Who else makes us laugh and always want us to be at work in a truly good mood? Who else acts like one of us? Who else? I tell you no-one. (Well, I believe that Charlie is pretty much like this too, but besides these two no-one.) We would be ungrateful jerks if we didn't appreciate this approach, if we took advantage of Ryan's rely on us.