(InEDC) BY Kelsey Adams Published: 09/4/23 7:47 AM PST
We Tahoeians have awaited your arrival all summer long! From the day the last school bell rang and the solstice came migrating around the sun, we have patiently awaited your glory.
We have been overworked with long hours of fake smiles and ‘yes sirs’ and ‘no ma’ams’. Trying our best to reach the dairy free, gluten free, diet, add this, without that, substitute for, nut free, sugar free, mercury free, blue but not green, on the left but not in the center, take it back, bag it up, all separated, can’t touch or I’ll die expectations of every person!
We have played your cover songs, we have dressed in little outfits and danced for you, we’ve stayed up late for your gambling, drinking and even tattoo pleasure. We have made your weddings memorable. Done things event staff and photographers should never have to do! We have gone above and beyond for all your events, big or small. Tried our best to please every 21 year old first timer, bachelor and bachelorette in black and white and penis accessories. We have given you ‘live’ this and ‘free’ that and even some fireworks! We have shown you all the hikes, taken you biking, hunting, fishing, zip lining, up and down and all around! We have performed death defying feats!! We have offered you every type of heavy machinery that you could imagine operating without a license!! We have taken you high and low, twisted and stretched your experiences and all with a view!
We have tried our very best to understand everyone’s lack of respect to the environment in which we call home. Wondering how people think putting the dog poop in a plastic bag but NOT throwing it away helps us in anyway?! We pick up your trash, we pull your beer cans and popped floaties out of the lake, we find your gross secret stashes of dirty diapers in the tree holes and rock formations along our trails! We have put out your fires that you left smoking and snubbed out the cigarettes you toss out your window. We clean up thousands of pounds of your trash in a few short months with smiles… but broken bleeding hearts. We volunteer our time to keep everything in tip top shape so you only see perfection!
We have lost our local long term housing so you can have a weekend in a ‘cabin’. A cabin that will sit empty except for two weeks of the year while families drive an hour to and from so they can live or work here! We have cleaned your rentals, that you’ve completely destroyed, but we have 4 hours before the next guests check in! We work endless hours dealing with your hotel complaints and needs. We deal with A LOT of your needs… you’re all really needy on vacation… We have seen all the disgusting things you would never see or do in your own home! We unplug the clogged toilets that you felt everything needed to be flushed down. We clean the vomit…. so much vomit. We deal with the increase of drunks and the drugs, while we cover our own drinks when we risk going out ourselves. We try to comprehend why there are personal hygiene products stuck to every surface but the inside of a trash can. And really how does toilet paper get everywhere?
We deal with all the traffic while you drive your 4mpg car all over town and ruin our quality air. We watch you stop in the middle of the road to pull out your phone for directions. We watch you park and take up not one, two, but three spaces. We have tried to hide at our secret locations to avoid you, but someone let the cat out of the bag and you’re everywhere! All the time! We repark when you’ve taken our employee parking spaces. We’ve left hours early just to barely get work on time but only live a few miles away. We deal with your lack of drunk biking skills and how you stop right in the middle of the bike path to take pictures, while we almost hit trees and other people to avoid you. Every time thinking ‘I should have just hit them’. We’ve yelled and screamed out our windows to move, go faster, use the turn lane, use turn signals, pull over, tie that down before it flies off and why would you block an intersection?! We have dealt with the construction just as much as you have because YOU’RE the ones that ruin our roads every winter!
We have dealt with every kind of tourist known to man. Most of the time without so much as a thank you or kind word. We have had to answer all the stupid questions. We have been spoken down to, pushed around, literally kicked/slapped/punched/spit on and more. We warn you that we aren’t Vegas with a view, we plead that the high altitude will get you drunk faster and to be careful! We secretly enjoy taking your money after you won and tipped us well (but we warned you to leave while you were up)! We have stressed not being able to pay our bills bc you didn’t think tipping was in your budget. We have watched your kids (don’t get me started on the kids) and walked your dogs (the highlight of our day). We have helped you when you’ve fallen because of those stupid shoes and tiny dresses. We’ve held your hair back and tried to break up fights before the cops had to show up and waste their time. We’ve risked our lives driving home to our families while you think drunk driving is as ok as Jaywalking!
We’ve had a long 3 months of all your drama, snide comments, snarky remarks, total lack of respect to fellow human beings, crying, screaming, woo girls and bro guys, abuse and fake smiles when something didn’t go your way.
A loooonnnnggggggg 3 months….but…
Labor Day you’re here!! Finally here. We will hide in our homes, at the beaches or in the trees today while they sit in 7 hours of traffic. We will finally feel the release of those long hours. We will think of what we can do with the fruits of our labor. Plan trips to places where we will remember how to be kind tourists. We will deal with a little post Burning Man time but at least those people get it. We will look forward to waking up on Tuesday with empty roads and family style bbqs. We will take our long walks and go on those hikes we’ve been avoiding. We will enjoy the last few weeks being locals as the cold comes creeping in. All of this we will enjoy before the snow falls and we mentally start to prepare for Winter…
![Grizzly Flat [ca. 1851-1852]](http://www.inedc.com/23/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/GrizzlyFlats-1851-1852-350x250.webp)
