Working for the Iowa Cubs is the best summer job

We all have to deal with summer jobs. We need to make a living to save up for the upcoming school year so you can do the simple things, like buying food so you don’t starve and paying your rent so you don’t get evicted. You also have to be able to pay for those random Wal-Mart runs in the middle of the night, where you buy random things with your roommates. However, not all of us are lucky enough to have a fun job that makes all the hard work worth it.

I work at Principal Park, which is the home of the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines. The Iowa Cubs are the Triple-A Affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, my favorite baseball team. I applied to work in the merchandise store at Principal Park during my freshman year of college. I got hired and started shortly after finals got done.

My first day was kind of nerve-wracking as it is at every job, but I quickly fell into a routine and met my coworkers – who would turn into some of my best friends. Working at a minor league baseball stadium involves weird hours and a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth it.

It can be hectic

My job involves everything from rapidly folding clothes and ringing people up to sitting around and talking when the game is slow and there isn’t much of a crowd. We also get to interact with fans – the crazy and the sane ones.

The dedicated fans

Some of my favorite interactions have been with the fans. There are always the dedicated fans that will come in and will talk the game with you. They know the players both in Iowa and Chicago and will talk endless strategy with you.

The entertaining drunk people

There are also those interactions with some of the fans we consider a little crazy. They come in and whine about prices, or hit on you when they’re drunk. Even if they don’t drunkenly hit on you, they’re more than likely going to ask you to hold their beer for them at some point.

The little kids are sweet and get really happy

Some of my favorite interactions come with the kids, especially the younger ones. There is something rewarding about helping them find exactly what they want with the $5 their parents gave them. Their faces light up and you can see how truly happy they are.

Overzealous parents are the worst

We also get to handle parents during the Iowa State Baseball Tournament. High school parents flood in from all over the state and get pissed if you don’t have the right size for their kid. One mother told us last year that we ruined the memory of a lifetime because we didn’t have the right size left on one of the last days of the tournament.

The awkward teens and the flirty boys

Then there are the pre-teens and teenagers who come in. The girls sit in the corner and gossip and act all weird if you ask if they need help. Then there are the awkward boys who will come in. On one occasion in June last summer, a group of boys who were probably around 13 years old spent 10 minutes trying to flirt and convince me to lower the price of their shirts. They offered me their food in exchange. I died laughing and politely told them I couldn’t exchange Dip-n-Dots for clothes.

I’ve met some of the best people in the world

Fan and customer interaction isn’t even my favorite part of working for the Iowa Cubs. My favorite part is spending time with my coworkers and going on adventures around the stadium. My boss, Shelby, is one of the nicest people I have ever met and she has turned into someone I consider an older sister and one of my best friends. The intern from my first summer, Molly, also turned out to be a student at Iowa State. She is now one of my best friends, and we talk all day, everyday. I couldn’t imagine life without either of them. In addition to them, I get to spend time with some other amazing coworkers who make the day fun, no matter how busy or stressful it is.

The three of us had a lot of fun going to storage to clean up and organize, which oftentimes ended in us jumping into mountains of extra cardboard. We’d also fly around the stadium and the concourse in a golf cart and get lunch at the Cub Club in left field, which I highly recommend.

Seriously, go work for a minor league team if you love baseball

As someone who wants to go into a career in sports, working in this environment has been wonderful. I spent last summer and am about to spend this summer doing one of my favorite things in the world. Not everyone is lucky enough to find a summer job they love so much. But thanks to my amazing coworkers, I got a lucky draw and have found a job that makes going to work every day fun and exciting.