Interview 3: Ropes Course Worker
Garrison Jenkins is a supervisor as well as a rescue guide at TreeTop Adventure course, which is a ropes course located next to the Turtle Back Zoo. He has worked at TreeTop for seven years as a guide and became a supervisor during the summer of 2020 when Covid-19 was still a relatively new threat but nationwide quarantine was beginning to be lifted. In this interview, Garrison shares his experience of how he handled the changes and being a guide during a pandemic. He also shares his observations and how he felt about the situation he and many others were in.
S: Since you have worked at Treetop Adventure Course the summer prior to the pandemic, what changes did you see in the customers, workers, and workplace that were different from the summer of 2020?
G: The summer of 2020 at Treetop adventure course during the pandemic was not entirely different from the other summers. Of course we added new regulations from the CDC of enforcing 6ft distancing, limited occupancy and masks; but it was not a huge effect on customers and workers since we work outside. Although we were forcing everyone to keep their masks on when around others for their safety was something to adjust to, the most obvious change in everyone was uncertainty hidden by the normalcy that we were allowed to work within less than six months of a pandemic the world feared or was unsure of. People came to Treetop somewhat relieved there was ordinary living progressing and workers were thrilled to work again and see each other; even so, Covid was on all our minds.
S: Although the masks may have been necessary at the time, did wearing the mask while on the course make it difficult to breathe and lead to more clients passing out?
G: Masks were necessary off the course rather than on the course. Big groups naturally gathered on our narrow walking paths so we were enforcing to keep them on unless more than 6ft from anyone that is not from their group. When on the course, everyone was informed to keep a mask on if ever on the same platform with someone separate from their group; which only two were allowed to be on. Wearing masks in high temperatures did make them challenging to endure a little, but no one has passed out due to mask suffocation.
S: Do you think that some of the new guidelines that had been added due to the pandemic should stay when the threat of Covid dies out?
G: I do not believe that new guidelines should be added if Covid dies out. For the most part, we have made a lot of progress and will continue to do so where we are now. Vaccines are out and assisting the cause for diminishing the worst symptoms of the virus and many others willing to get their countries moving again are all playing a huge role in progress. Vaccinated or not, Fear won’t move us forward. I agree with the CDC guidelines for trying to prevent as many susceptible people with health issues as possible from contracting a virus we knew so little of in the first year, but the world has more of a base of knowledge to stand on to start climbing out of this mess.
S: Were the customers understanding of the new regulations or the rules of the course?
G: Very few gave us problems with the new regulations and even more so of the rules of the course. All customers understood the changes, but we did have a small few who were very demanding of “not enough regulations” or political aggression toward the guidelines.
S: I want to learn about how it was to work a job where it is very near impossible to remain Socially distant. Could you please explain the steps you took to try to remain socially distant even when the customer was struggling with the course and needed assistance?
G: Unfortunately, yes it is quite impossible to keep a social distance with customers in need of assistance on the course. The process requires Rescue Guides, which are the trained workers to use a lowering kit to get customers off the course due to emergencies or by choice, to be in close contact with a customer to ensure their health and safety when connected to the device. The kit is in a bag, which is carried by all rescue guides; in which, we cross many customers’ paths when rushing to a rescue. All customers are required to have a mask on them, off and on the course. When going through the course ourselves, we shout “masks on”, when nearing a customer’s platform for both customer and employee safety The hardest part is assisting a customer who is unconscious. This is due to many reasons but the most cases are from dehydration or anxiety attacks, thus making it difficult to also maintain the mask on them.
S: What did you learn from this whole experience? Did it show people’s resilience? Did you learn any important skills/lessons?
G: The whole experience for me was confusion and political anxiety. Covid was such a fresh disaster to the world that it almost felt like it can influence any type of chaos; example of this, the confusion which led to sharp demands for toilet paper over hand sanitizer in the first week of the pandemic. Politics around the world became volatile and its citizens struggled for answers, safety, and normalcy. Felt like nothing was guaranteed with views not being nearly 50% verified on what to do and what the virus would mean for us. Even with more facts developing, nothing was quite a comfortable way to settle on mentally. From all this, I’ve learned to value the peace that we all take for granted so much more than I usually do. We survive hard days in our own way everyday but never truly pay attention to the lives around us make up our daily situation; and with this virus, how easily something so small can cripple us as the dominating species on planet earth. Although I believe it’s not the virus that crippled us entirely, but how distant we are with relations of one another. As so, we have endured many trials in the past so it’s only natural we do so in this crisis as well. People were afraid and dealing with their own strifes, many more dealt with the situation as whole rather than their own problems. The courage of our first responders and nurses in hospitals was the first of my prayers to save lives and be safe themselves. They endured the blunt of it all so we didn’t have to and paved a way for us to help ourselves better. Despite all the political drama, people have stood up to the challenges that swept across the world and country. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from this pandemic is that a bad day only lasts a moment, fear can last a lifetime.
