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| We take our job very seriously |
Well, I have written about one way in which I learned to power through a nice long day of pushing, grading, and icing fish...but I failed to speak of another very important energy source. As necessary as food and calories are to physically making it through a day, music became fuel to break mental barriers and stagnant points during the long days. Throwing thousands of fish into an ice tote becomes a little more bearable when you have something to sing along to. Hell, it even becomes fun when you realize how ridiculous you would look to anyone else as you belt out the lyrics to Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Blink-182, Beastie Boys, Florence and the Machine, or Michael Jackson. The '90s became our favorite era as the music gave us a chance to laugh at ourselves, while gangster rap was just ironic when blasting from the speakers of a fish house in a small cove in Southeast Alaska. In each instance I was reminded at how easy it is to smile in the craziest and most exhausting of circumstances. While elbow deep in dead fish, with slime in my hair and scales on my face, on four hours of sleep, and looking at another 12 hours of work...I was happy to have music to sing to and three other girls who were singing with me.
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| The location of our dance parties |
And when singing wasn't enough (and sometimes it just doesn't cut it), I liked to utilize what my friend has aptly dubbed an Emergency Dance Party. These are important for several reasons, but most notably for their ability to relieve any tension. Especially within a group. Especially in a fish house. When we were exhausted, angry, stressed, hungry, and ready to just throw in the towel...it was time to bust a move. Get the blood flowing and forget what was bothering you. Which is pretty easy to do when you see someone flailing around in fish gear. My pride and joy was the night I danced out of my gear with Michael Jackson's "Bad" at the end of a 16 hour work day. All the stress of the day was made up for by the fact that I could still dance, smile, and laugh with a group of girls who suffered and danced right alongside me.
