Dunk Tank Drama - Part 3
Posted by Pete on July 02, 2023 at 03:42:28
The morning of the carnival, I woke up and right away I went to start filling the dunk tank, since it would take a few hours to fill just from my garden hose, and Jon wanted to kick things off right around lunch time. Apparently this was interesting enough for Derek to roll out of bed, and soon enough he was outside helping to get the target and seat put together. To my mild surprise, he was dressed in the one set of "nice" clothes his parents sent him with: a button down striped shirt and nice tan shorts. To be honest, I'm not sure why his parents sent him with anything other than shorts, t-shirts and swim trunks, considering I tried to avoid ever dressing nicer than that myself. I also wondered why Derek might choose that outfit on this day - did he just think it would be funny? Or maybe he was just out of clean clothes and it was time to do laundry. He was also barefoot, and his parents (probably his mom moreso than his dad) would insist that he had to wear shoes when he was playing outside. I thought about telling him to go inside and put some shoes on, but then I had second thoughts. I've done enough dunk tank events to know how the day would go - the grass around the dunk tank would quickly turn into ankle-deep muddy water, there would be a pile of kids' shoes, socks, towels and other possessions, kids would be running around, it would be chaos. I figured it was easier just to let him go barefoot - after all, what's the point of being away from home if you can't ignore your parents' silly rules?
"Can I test it out?" Derek asked, fiddling with the mechanism to lock the seat in place. There was barely even an inch of water in the tank, it would still be a few hours before the tank was filled. "Let's wait til later," I suggested, "it will be a bigger splash that way." Derek scowled, but agreed. About then, Jon and his sister Ellie, and another kid about Jon's age, walked over to us, carrying various supplies. Jon had brought over a pop-up canopy, his signs with the dunk tank schedule, and some other essentials. My wife stepped outside and said she was going to make French toast for breakfast, and would we all like some. Derek quickly agreed, and I invited Jon, Ellie and their friend Kevin to join us. Breakfast was spent mainly by having Derek talk the ears off the teenagers, all of whom could not have been more friendly towards him. After breakfast, several other people in the neighborhood were starting to get to work setting up their own contributions to the carnival.
Derek, Jon, Ellie and Kevin and I got the rest of our site setup. We setup one canopy with a table and some chairs where I could sit and supervise, and cardboard boxes could be used to collect food donations for the food pantry. In my garage, I have an old bookshelf that I set out to use as a dry space for the kids to put their shoes and towels, instead of having everything on the ground. I also setup a second canopy, this one with walls, where people could change into dry clothes if they wanted to. Like I've said, I've done enough dunk tank events by now that I have a pretty good idea of how to make it easier and more comfortable for everyone.
When we finished setting everything up, Derek again asked "can I test it out?," going so far as to start to climb up the ladder. I sighed, the tank was still only about 2/3 full. "Let's wait til its all the way full, Derek," I said, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to delay much longer this kid's desire to splash into the water. We had about an hour and a half before the carnival officially started and Jon's first "victim" was scheduled to take the plunge. The teenagers said they'd head home and return when the carnival started, and I went back inside. I changed into my fire department t-shirt and blue shorts (since I was officially representing the fire department when I'd be sitting in the dunk tank.) Derek fidgeted with his phone, waiting for something fun to start happening.
Finally, the dunk tank was full to the brim, and people were starting to mill around, waiting for the festivities to start. A DJ was setup at the end of the street, and we kicked off with some of the kids singing the national anthem. After that, we returned to the dunk tank. I was curious to see what everyone would wear, knowing that part of my job as supervisor was to make sure that no one was wearing anything inappropriate or revealing. So far, I didn't have to worry. Ellie was wearing a dark t-shirt and shorts, Kevin was wearing a t-shirt, swimtrunks and flip flops, and Jon was wearing a light-colored button-down shirt over a white undershirt, blue jeans, socks and gym socks.
The police chief was the first on the schedule to be dunked. Derek at this point again asked, "can I test it out first? Make sure it works OK?" I guess he was tired of me saying No, so he looked to Jon for permission. "Derek," Jon said kindly, "you're already supposed to be going on later this afternoon." "I'll go in again then too. I just want to go one time now." Jon looked at me, and I sighed and smiled at Derek. "Well, Chief," I said, turning to the police chief, "you want to throw out the first pitch? And try to dunk my nephew?" "That's a lot of pressure!" he joked, but by then Derek had already climbed up to the seat and was swinging his feet over the water, begging to get dunked. A bit of a crowd gathered to watch, and the police chief took aim and nailed the target on his first try, sending Derek splashing into the cold water. Derek splashed around a bit, making funny faces through the window at the front of the tank, then hopped out and offered to help with collecting and passing out tennis balls. The police chief climbed up and entertained the crowd, allowing him to get dunked in full uniform.
Not having anything to do myself, I sat in a folding chair under the canopy, and "supervised." So far, there was no sign of anything amiss (not that I expected there to be, with the police chief monitoring the situation from the dunk tank seat.) Kevin was next up for a short turn after the police chief was finished. I always find it interesting to watch how people react to being in the dunk tank - some people are nervous, some people you can tell they don't really want to be there, some people are relaxed, some people are enthusiastic. Kevin was somewhere between "relaxed" and "enthusiastic," and I wasn't sure, but I have a feeling this wasn't his first time in a dunk tank. I did spot some potential trouble, though - it seemed like Kevin was popular, and a good number of his friends showed up to dunk him. Everyone had the phones out recording, but I didn't see anyone doing anything obviously wrong. Kevin was pretty much just chilling on the seat, falling in the water every so often, laughing and joking with his friends.
Next up was Ellie, and I had a suspicion that if there would be any drama, it might have to do with her - so I was glad her turn was fairly early in the day. Her demeanor was definitely "nervous" while sitting in the dunk tank, and there were a smaller number of people milling around to dunk her. I noticed one other girl recording with her phone, but I think they were friends and I didn't spot any reason to be concerned. After Ellie's turn, she and Kevin (who I suspected were a couple) headed off to change into dry clothes. Next up was a school principal, and middle-aged lady clearly being a good sport, and a large crowd of school-aged kids gathered to witness her getting dunked. Meanwhile, Jon sat down next to me. "I have to ask Jon - why are you wearing jeans when you'll have to go in the dunk tank?" Jon laughed, but didn't seem caught off guard by the question, "I just thought it would be funny," he shrugged.
My turn was next, and I was so on edge about the possibility of "drama" that I almost forgot to be excited to get to go in a dunk tank. I kicked off my shoes and climbed up the ladder. No matter how many times I do it, it never stops feeling awesome, swinging my legs over the edge of seat, sticking my feet in the cold water, and seeing the crowd line up to dunk me. Derek, naturally, wanted to be the first to dunk me, and he eagerly started lobbing balls at the target - missing each time. I have a policy that when I'm in the dunk tank, EVERYONE gets to dunk me, even if you miss the target. "Just go hit the target, buddy!" I encouraged him - and he did, sending me splashing down into the water. Which was still refreshingly cool. I've learned that the best way to be a dunk tank "victim" is to just enthusiastically encourage everyone to try their best shot at dunking me, and kind of cheer people on. I've tried pretending that I don't want to get dunked - but I've seen that upset young kids who don't understand that I'm pretending. I've also tried "trash talk," but its too easy to actually upset someone that way. So it seems like everyone ends up having fun if I'm just friendly and encouraging them to do their best to dunk me.
I felt great having cooled off a bit, and returned to my folding chair. The next kid up was named Tommy, then another girl named Lauren. Both were in shorts and t-shirts, and both proved to be popular targets. Then it was Jon's turn. "Guess I should get up there," Jon casually said, as he pulled off his shoes and socks. His sister Ellie and friend Kevin had returned, no doubt eager to see him in the dunk tank. He was honestly a great dunk tank victim, seemed very natural up there, not minding one bit when he ended up in the water. He was also a handsome kid, and there were a lot of people, mainly girls, surrounding the area watching him. He did seem to enjoy the attention, and fortunately I still didn't notice any inappropriate behavior or anything. So as far as I was concerned, everything was going well, and I probably didn't need to worry.
The rest of the afternoon went on relatively drama free. There were a few unusual dunk tank victims - most seemed to be Jon's friends. Clothing was mostly t-shirts and either shorts or swim trunks. One kid wore a polo shirt with his swim trunks, another was in sweat pants. One kid arrived looking like he'd just come from church, in a pink polo, dress pants and dress shoes. His shoes and socks came off before he went in the tank, but I was surprised to see him in there in dress clothes. Another kid, just in terms of personality, didn't seem like he fit in there. He seemed, for lack of a better term, like a a--hole. But, he did his turn in the dunk tank without causing any drama, so.... fine?
Finally, as things were wrapping up, Derek finally got his 15 minutes of fame in the dunk tank. He still hadn't changed out of his wet clothes, and he was eager to get back in the dunk tank. I think he would have stayed in there all day if he could. But, another kid wanted a turn, and Derek scampered off with his new friends in search of something else to do.
About then, I notice my brother Cole walking down the street towards us. We'd kind of left it open-ended as to when he'd return to pick up Derek, but apparently today was the day. The first thing I noticed is that Cole was dressed almost identically to his son Derek, in a button down dress shirt, khaki shorts and Birkenstock sandals. He also looked a bit disheveled and exhausted. He plopped down on the grass next to me, saying nothing.
"Hey Cole. How's it going?" I asked cheerfully. Cole ignored me and said, "When I got here and saw what was going on, somehow I knew exactly where to find you," he nodded towards the dunk tank. I nodded. "Surprised my son's not up there," he went on. "Oh, he had a turn. Twice, actually," I assured Cole. "And where is he now?" "Um, no idea. Out there somewhere, talking to strangers. I'm sure he's fine," I shrugged. Cole rolled his eyes at me. "How's Emily?" (Emily is his sick daughter who's been in and out of the hospital). "Doing great, mom and dad came down to help." "Glad to hear. And how are YOU?"
"Well," Cole said, "I was working last night on the ambulance. And it was just non-stop. We never made it back to the station, just back to back to back calls. Around midnight we get sent to a tractor fire on some guy's farm. And the tractor is waaaayy back in a field, and we're the first one's there. I wasn't driving the ambulance back through the mud, so I get out and walk. And all the sudden I'm knee deep in cow sh-t." I laughed, and even Cole cracked a smile as he went on. "So I'm covered up to my knees in sh-t, then a fire truck roars past and kicks up more mud and sh-t so I'm covered pretty much head to toe. And we're there for like 2 hours before they finally let us leave."
"So then," Cole continues, "we finally make it back to the station, and I head for the shower. Before I even get my clothes off, we get another call. And we're the only truck available so I can't even get someone else to take the call so I can shower. So, back out I go, to work a cardiac arrest, while I'm covered in sh-t." I laughed again - a cardiac arrest call is a ton of work, doing CPR, having to lift and carry lots of equipment and patients. You work up a sweat. "And its like 140 degrees in this lady's house, and I'm just absolutely disgusting at his point. At least I make it back to the station after that, and take the longest shower of my entire life. But, SURPRISE," I laughed again at Cole, usually effectively mute and emotionless, telling this long and animated story, "someone I forgot extra pants and socks. I had an old t-shirt and a clean pair of boxers, Thank God, but no pants or socks or clean shoes. So, whatever, there's like an hour left in my shift, I hope my bad luck for the day is over and I'll make it without getting another call. But, 15 minutes before I could go home, the pager goes off AGAIN, this time for a car accident. So whatever, I just put on my bunker pants and boots and hop on the truck. And we find the car about a half mile off the road, so I'm hiking back there in my bunkers without socks," I cringed, I'd worn my boots without socks a few times, and its not pleasant, "find the driver half-dead, with the car up in a tree. So it takes us more than an hour to get the car stabilized and the guy out, and now we're lugging him back out to the road before he dies. So then I went back to the station, took the 2nd longest shower of my life, changed into this outfit. Tossed my sh-tty clothes in the station laundry, and spent the next 3 hours finishing my reports. Then, I drove over here to tell you all about my night." "Well, you're looking great Cole!" I laughed, as he wrapped up his story. Cole sighed and laid on the ground, flat on his back.
"Daddy!" Derek yelled, running over to Cole and jumping on his lap. Cole smiled and gave his soaking-wet son a hug. Derek started chattering about everything he'd done while visiting me, then exclaimed, "Daddy, will you dunk me?" Derek scampered back onto the dunk tank seat, and Cole obliged, throwing some tennis balls at the target and sending his son into the drink. "Your turn to get dunked, Daddy!" Derek ordered, as he climbed out of the water. "Derek," I said patiently, "I think your daddy's had a rough night, he probably wants to rest." "No," Cole said firmly, "a turn in the dunk tank sounds like the most fun I could possibly have right now." Cole handed me his wallet, keys and phone, and to his son's delight, climbed up for a dunking.
When Cole got out of the tank, dripping wet, there were a few younger kids still taking turns dunking each other, but the festivities had mainly died down. Jon and Kevin were doing a good job supervising the remaining kids, and they each even went back in the tank for one more turn themselves. Cole sat back down and we caught up on how his daughter was doing. Cole seemed to fight to stay awake as he was talking. "Cole, why don't you go inside, shower, take a nap, spend the night here. You can head back tomorrow, get a night's rest though." "You sure? You aren't eager to get rid of the kid?" "Not at all, you can both stay as long as you need to."
Cole silently walked back to my house. By then, the carnival was officially over, and I pulled the plug on the bottom of the tank to release the water. Derek and some of his friends had one last bit of fun jumping and splashing in the water flowing out of the tank, then we got to work taking the tank apart, taking down the canopies, and cleaning everything up. I went back inside to change, and found Cole changed into dry clothes, laying on my couch sound asleep. Derek was nestled next to him, napping himself. Once I got changed, I headed back out, and Jon helped me get the dunk tank hooked back to my car, and the food donations loaded up. I gave Jon and Kevin a ride to the food pantry to drop off the donations, then to the fire station to return the dunk tank. On the way home, I picked up a bunch of Chinese food to snack on. I invited Jon and Kevin to join us, but they politely declined, having plans with their friends.
When I got back home, I found Cole and Derek both awake but groggy, and all of us were quite exhausted. A quick meal of Chinese food, followed by falling asleep in front of the TV rounded off the night.
Now, as far as I know, the "Karen" who prompted this whole dunk tank mess is currently pleased with how everything went. I've not heard of any drama, though I don't pay too close attention to social media. But I'm still friendly with her and her family, and all seems to be well. Which I'm grateful for, despite it having caused me about 6 months of stress!
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