The Exodus

I have joked off and on that if all hell breaks loose, we won’t worry, we are in a motorhome and we’ll just moved out of the way of the chaos. We are in that reality around the country now. The problem is we can't escape this situation like a flood or wildfire or some other natural disaster. The enitre country is shrouded in it. 

This week has been a game changer in the work camping world. I sit here writing, trying to process my thoughts about the situation we are in right now. We have been in parks in the past, that have had extenuating circumstances that impacted the work we were doing for the park. In those situations, we were assured by the park management that they recognized our commitment to the job, the distance we travelled to be there and were not asked to leave. In time the situation settled down and it was back to business as usual. We felt appreciated and welcome despite the difficult circumstances for the park and the work campers.

The Corona Virus Panic arrives in Llano Grande

We are enjoying a zero COVID-19 environment in the Rio Grande Valley, so far. In the past 24 hours we have gone from feeling relatively insulated from the situation to being fully impacted by the threat that is still only academic and speculative in this region. Yesterday, the corporate office followed the trend of other parks in the valley and closed all public areas in the park and cancelled all events for the foreseeable future. What does that mean to workcampers you ask?  Well, if your job involves working in the restaurant, bar, golf course or any other Activities Office function, you were told yesterday that your job had ended and given till the end of the week to either, find work in another department, leave or pay full price for your site for the remainder of your contracted stay. Hmmm.  Champ and I are lucky, in that the office is open so I still have a job, and maintenance is an essential service that continues to operate. Other work campers are not so lucky. The park is completely focused on the all mighty dollar. If you don’t work, you don’t stay. Never mind the season long commitment and hard work. Never mind our next destination may still be buried in snow and ice or the job doesn’t start. Never mind that we contracted to work until March 31^st and contracted to have our site till April 4^th.  Some are facing summer jobs being delayed since the parks have been closed for now. The security of being self-contained is fraying a bit for some with the uncertainty of when and where their next move or job will be. Work campers here are all feeling different levels of anxiety and uncertainty this week. The one common feeling among us here is the feeling that we are not appreciated and are basically in the way and now a burden to the parks bottom line. Not a good feeling. Having worked for only one private park, we don’t know if this is an attitude common among private parks or if it is the attitude of this particular management team. I do know, several people who were planning to return are making other plans for next winter as a result of the abrasive treatment  received from the Volunteer Coordinator as this situation developed. Champ and I have been treated well so far and working hard not to get caught up in the drama.  However, It is hard to watch our co-workers be treated like they couldn’t be less disposable.  

Graham at the IT help desk with over 40 modems turned in by early departees. 

The office is busy with people, many of them Canadians, who have been summoned home by their insurance companies and fears they will not be let back into their home country. Others are leaving to go home and help kids who still have jobs to go to with schools and daycares closed. Some are just panicked and need to be somewhere familiar, so they feel more secure. We had two scheduled check outs yesterday yet processed over 40. 

I watch the updates at home, try to sift the bullshit and rumors from the facts. I go work my hours in the office and smile while people vent their anxiety. I come home and sit it in the lawn chair and decompress.  We visit with the neighbors and are planning communal dinners and get togethers, like the old days when we went camping with our group.  The 90-degree heat has returned and the pools are closed, that really stinks. But, these are the times we live in today. We have it relatively good here compared to many others around the country and for that we are thankful.

I watch the panicked snowbirds fly out of here two to four weeks early and think to myself, it’s like going out in the middle of a blizzard, instead of waiting for the storm to pass and the roads to be plowed. I believe deep in my heart that by early April, when we are set to take flight ourselves that the worst will be over and the dust will be settled. In the mean time, rumors swirl, grocery store shelves are empty for unexplained reasons and a tough situation is revealing the best and the worst of people.

Until next time…