We lived in a co-ed boarding house run by a woman with a face like a clenched fist named Mrs. But just then, the feeling was strange and new, and I didn't quite know what to do with it. This feeling would eventually become a staple in my life, something I'd grow comfortable with in bars, gyms, offices, and bedrooms. And I was supposed to get a job, too.īut on our fourth night there, still without work, I sat on the edge of my bed and felt that sense of being a failure. Evan's older brother had done it years earlier and had arranged a job for Evan handing out darts to patsies eager to pop balloons on the boardwalk. It was what a lot of teenagers in my town did. This story has nothing explicit in it, but it does make reference to the existence of sex, as does this warning. And so we sent him, along with one of our producers, Jonathan Menjivar.Ī quick note to listeners. It's been 29 years since Jonathan went to work at Wildwood, and he always wanted to go back. There's a boardwalk, three wooden piers with roller coasters and a Ferris wheel, and lots of dropped popcorn and hot dog buns for the seagulls to eat. It is your typical amusement park on the beach. Sometimes, somebody ends up in an amusement park who really has no business there at all, who was not built to thrill at the thrills that the amusement park offers.Īs a teenager, Jonathan Goldstein spent a summer working at an amusement park- one that was situated right on the beach- in Wildwood, New Jersey. Act Three- What I Didn't Do On My Summer Vacation. It's about multi-level marketing schemes and the people who get caught up in them. These days, she is the host of the podcast The Dream, a show we really like. Jane Marie- she used to be a producer here. Our hour of amusement parks continues in a minute from Chicago Public Radio when our program continues. Well, coming up, carnies float in the air, scary things happen on rides, and bold steps forward for paintball targets everywhere. His latest project is figuring out how he can build a roller coaster in his backyard. He actually helped set up an alumni association for his old staff at the games department, worked out a deal with Worlds of Fun to allow old games kids to go back to the park and work a shift in games, relive the glory. And he's a dad, which he loves- really, really loves.Ĭole's still crazy about amusement parks. He left his job at Worlds of Fun years ago, worked for a while in sales at a toy company, traveled a little, giving motivational talks about being a boss at an amusement park. That's a weird fate- to know that you're in the best job you may ever have at 25, especially when it's a job that you know in your heart- it can't last. And that's still going to get them happy about this job. And so if they're talking about, "Did you guys see what Cole did at the shift meeting?" even if they say "that was stupid" or "that was not funny," they're still going to be talking about it. That's what makes it fun! They're going to remember Phil Bridges more than anything else throughout the day. And on busy days, I'll take the Super Soaker, and I'll fill it up with ice water, and I'll sneak around the corner and just- they're all standing there, and I'll just go, "light them up!" and just spray across the whole group. What went through his thought process?Īnd I've run out with a squirt gun all the time. I'm Phil Bridges"- and go out and talk to people. I do silly things that everybody looks at me later and go, why did he do that? Why was it deemed necessary for Cole to dress up wearing a big beard and a raincoat, and tell everyone he lived downtown under the bridge and he was there to motivational speaker them today? (GRAVELLY VOICE) "Hi, everybody. I'd say there's a lot of Michael Scott in me, probably. I'd say that there's a lot of Michael Scott in this job. The park is barely open- hardly any customers here at all- when Cole stops by her game on his morning rounds. But he's an extrovert, and he has filled the department with extroverts, like Mallory. Cole himself never went to an amusement park for the games. Nobody comes to an amusement park for the games. This is 32 games, the kind that you would see at any carnival or midway, where you get three softballs to try to throw them into a milk can, or you throw beanbags at targets, or you shoot darts to knock over a stack of cups. The department Cole runs is the games department at Worlds of Fun. But what's incredible about Cole is that, even after a decade here, even after becoming an adult and working 60-, 70-hour weeks, every week, all summer, even with the pressure in his current job of running a whole department and hitting financial targets and buying all the supplies and hiring and supervising over 100 young people, he is still pretty psyched about working at an amusement park.Īnd it is not a glamour job. You might think that enthusiasm would diminish over time.
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