Sleep-away camp made up the best nine summers of my life. Yes, sadly, that is in the past tense. That is because I just sent in my letter letting my camp know that I will not be returning this summer. This made me want to write an article about camp. However, it's not a normal girly article about sleep-away camp. I wanted to let people know what goes on "behind the scenes." Now, this list is not as long as I would like it to be because a lot of the behind the scenes parts of camp are best kept behind the scenes. However, I think that I covered some key things.
1. The Black Market Food Trade
This was a very vital part of my camping experience. The fact that a bag of chips can sell for $10 just shows you what camp truly is. It was even pricier when the counselors were selling food because they were able to get hot food on their days off, something that these kids hadn’t seen in weeks. I swear that I once saw two kids get into a bidding war over a slice of pizza and it was sold to the winner for $15. It was the best feeling ever, walking into a bunk with a sandwich, holding it up, and saying, “I'll start the bidding at $5.” Sadly, this great camp tradition has become outlawed now.
2. The Bruises
Yes, parents, all of those black and blue marks on your child were no accident. Those were from your child's loving counselors. I say loving and I truly mean it. The counselor's favorite campers would get it the worst. All of those dead arms, charlie horses, and type writers that were received may have left bruises on their skin, but they left a good feeling in their hearts.
3. The Gambling
"You know how I came home with $300 more than you sent me with, Mom? Well, that is because I am a scratch Black Jack player." Yes, I have been prepared for the casino ever since the young age of 12. However, I, sadly, learned that I was not as prepared as I thought this spring break when I lost a substantial amount of money in the casino. As it would turn out, many of the rules that we played Black Jack with were made up.
4. Visiting Day
I just hope that all parents know by now that the camp that you see on visiting day is not really the camp that you sent your child to. Parents need to know the week long clean up that campers must slave over in order to get the camp ready for visiting day. Campers are bribed with pizza parties and McDonalds, but they never see anything like that.
