“This candy was supposed to be on sale! This is why I hate Walgreen’s! You’re a horrible employee and a horrible person!” The customer said as they stormed out, not allowing Sr. Megan Ketner to apologize and fix the problem that occurred with the cash register. These issues with customers are the kind of problems most high schoolers deal with at their jobs. However, for Soph. Brianna Day, issues at work include chasing pigs and helping cows give birth.
Day works at L and R Dairy Farm about twice a week. Her shifts last 3-4 hours. Day started out volunteering, but then got offered a job. “What I enjoy about this job is that I get to work with animals and I really like animals. Also, it is kinda relaxing and you can’t really mess up at milking cows. I also like how I don’t work with other people other than the family,” Day said. This unique job brings interesting stories about problems at work.
One interesting experience happened after a cold night of milking cows. Day had to feed the animals, but when she went to the pig pen she noticed one was missing. “It was about 7:00 pm, cold, and dark. So we had to go get flash lights from the house and the family to help us look,” Day said. One of her coworkers and her mother drove the gator around the farm in an attempt to find the pig. After 45 minutes of searching in the cold, Day and her coworkers thought the pig was gone for good. However, they decided to make one last attempt and check the barns. They finally found the pig in the calf barn around 8:00 pm. Although it makes for an interesting work story, Day does not want to experience this again.
Another intriguing event occurred before Day was going to milk some cows. She was walking around to make sure everything was okay when she realized one of the cows was in labor. She ran to get a coworker and was told she was going to have to help deliver the calf, something she had never done before. They had to go to the barn to grab chains and handles, then returned to the cow. “The legs of the calf were sticking out so we put the chains around each of the legs. Once we had them on we had to start pulling. It took about a minute then the calf was out,” Day said. After the calf was out, Day actually passed out, due to the heat and the fact that she wasn’t breathing right. Luckily, Day ended up being fine, but she still had to go home early.
Most high schoolers have work stories about rude customers at restaurants or stores. Day has stories about cows giving birth and pigs on the loose. Although some people may not want to work on a farm, Day loves it, and it gives her great stories to share.
