Profile Paper Final Draft
John Hackett
Erin Coggin
English 1110-133
9 November 2014
Working at the Arboretum is Not a Peaceful Job Whenever someone asks me where I work, I say “The Stranahan Arboretum.” Almost always, they respond with something along the lines of “Wow how did you score that job” or “That must be a very peaceful job.” These assumptions could not be further from the truth. The Stranahan Arboretum is beautiful park owned and ran by the University of Toledo. It is roughly forty seven acres and home to many deer and various bird species. Also, it has a small pond, wooded areas, a river, and a gorgeous assortment of various trees. The arboretum is quiet and surely a peaceful place to go for a walk or have a picnic, but certainly not to work. A typical work day at the arboretum begins at 7:00 a.m, although the boss does not show up until 7:20 a.m on an average day because he never accounts for the time it takes to get his Starbucks coffee and bagel-breakfast sandwich from Panera every morning. Surely because of his constant tardiness one could assume that he would understand a worker being a few minutes late occasionally, but no. If the boss does show up on time, which he does from time to time, and a worker is not there by 7:00 a.m sharp, not only will he write the worker up for being late, he will also be a jerk about it and remind them of all the mistakes they have been making recently while on the job. Although in his job description he is to inform and guide us through our work, he doesn't. Instead he sits in his office, reads the paper, and drinks his stupid, foofy, girly coffee which that adds to the putrid aroma of his unbrushed teeth. He expects the workers to know what is to be done each day without telling them. Even worse, he expects the student workers who have almost no landscaping experience to know how to do nearly every task that is required to be performed on the job. Landscape maintenance may sound like a pretty simple job, which for the most part it
Erin Coggin
English 1110-133
9 November 2014
Working at the Arboretum is Not a Peaceful Job Whenever someone asks me where I work, I say “The Stranahan Arboretum.” Almost always, they respond with something along the lines of “Wow how did you score that job” or “That must be a very peaceful job.” These assumptions could not be further from the truth. The Stranahan Arboretum is beautiful park owned and ran by the University of Toledo. It is roughly forty seven acres and home to many deer and various bird species. Also, it has a small pond, wooded areas, a river, and a gorgeous assortment of various trees. The arboretum is quiet and surely a peaceful place to go for a walk or have a picnic, but certainly not to work. A typical work day at the arboretum begins at 7:00 a.m, although the boss does not show up until 7:20 a.m on an average day because he never accounts for the time it takes to get his Starbucks coffee and bagel-breakfast sandwich from Panera every morning. Surely because of his constant tardiness one could assume that he would understand a worker being a few minutes late occasionally, but no. If the boss does show up on time, which he does from time to time, and a worker is not there by 7:00 a.m sharp, not only will he write the worker up for being late, he will also be a jerk about it and remind them of all the mistakes they have been making recently while on the job. Although in his job description he is to inform and guide us through our work, he doesn't. Instead he sits in his office, reads the paper, and drinks his stupid, foofy, girly coffee which that adds to the putrid aroma of his unbrushed teeth. He expects the workers to know what is to be done each day without telling them. Even worse, he expects the student workers who have almost no landscaping experience to know how to do nearly every task that is required to be performed on the job. Landscape maintenance may sound like a pretty simple job, which for the most part it