3 years

Hard to believe I've been living & working at the Grand Canyon for 3 yrs now. Still not sure which is harder to believe...that this company I work, for hasn't gotten tired of me and booted my ass outta here or that I haven't gotten tired of work/location/people and just packed up and left on my own. Course now I have lots more to pack up. When I got here I had 1 old backpack and 1 suitcase...now I got a room full of stuff that I have collected and would need a U-haul truck to move it all outta here or just have a big yardsale when ever I leave.

I had orientation for my job here on my birthday (which is today) and had to wait a whole year to get my birthday off with pay. Many of my co-workers have been like family ever since I got here. I even call a couple cooks "uncle & Grandpa".

Many guests will ask me~ where is home...my answer "well that depends on your definition of home, I was raised and spent most of my life in NH, but Grand Canyon is now H-O-M-E...in every sense of the word".
Guest will then ask where my family is...so I can list off where my brothers & kids live, and then turn and wave my hand to the front of the cafeteria and tell the guest that I work with my family everyday.
Then guests will ask what brought me here...my answer "the greyhound bus"

After 3 years here, I am still sometimes surprised when guests ask me where the Skywalk is....you would think in this internet era that people would do a google search for such stuff before they go on vacation.
2 of my favorite questions from a guest during my first year here was "what kind of meat is in your beef burgandy"? Geez I don't know it might be beef but would you like me to get the cook so you can ask them?
Or~ "Can I eat my meal by the river?"...my answer~sure if you want to carry your meal down the canyon for over 9 miles.

Some of my co-workers also have their favorite memories during my first year here. Around August 2007, I was a cashier, and we ran out of silverware. Some big group came in and I had a long line of people at my register and they were all sorta complaining about not having silverware.
Well (to make a long story short) I sat at my register and yelled for silverware loud enough for the dishwasher to hear. Well the dishwasher instantly brought it out and all the guests in line clapped and said thank-you. Unfortunately my manager was helping out at the burger station and also heard me yell. He was not as thrilled as the guests. That manager started to write me up, but threw the write-up in the trash later.

During orientation we were given a booklet with blank pages in the back of it, supposedly we were supposed to write a list of of things/places of what we wanted to see. I haven't done 1/2 of whats on my list. So this year, I hope to do alot more of whats on my list. You just never know when you will run out of time to do anything.