2015–2016 school year is a lean one for elementary substitute teachers in Toronto. Supply teaching jobs become scarce, so we have to look for work elsewhere. When one door closes, another door opens.

Two days before my first shift at the Rogers Centre, I had to do a four-hour online training course and pass four quizzes and one test. Concessions staff for Aramark at the Rogers Centre must be smart serve certified.

The majority of concessions attendants at the Rogers Centre are young people. They are high school, college and university students or recent graduates. They have their dream jobs in their minds: doctor, nurse, pharmacist, researcher, filmmaker, accountant, high school teacher, businessman, etc. But for now they settle for the seasonal job with a low pay.

In Sept., I started to work at the Blue Jays games since my supply teaching job at Toronto District School Board wasn’t busy. It was my first season. Every game day, we put on a black cap, a blue T-shirt, our name tags, black dress pants and black shoes. We were all set. When we signed in, the manager on site assigned us numbers. The numbers represent concessions from 100 level to 500 level.

During a long walk to my assigned location, I couldn’t help wondering: Today will be a good day? What am I going to do? Is my supervisor nice? Are co-workers friendly? Your colleagues are definitely one factor that decides if you have a positive workday.

Once I had a co-worker from hell. The young woman yelled and used bad languages a lot. I overheard her saying, “Why is she here?” Since that moment, I have realized that I am going to experience discrimination not only because I am a woman and an immigrant, but also because I am not young.

But during the Parapan Am Games at my summer job, I had a co-worker from heaven. The 32-year-old man named Shelby is an Italian from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He acted like my DJ. He would play the songs I requested on his phone, even though my taste in music is quite different from his (we were born and grew up in different continents and we are more than 20 years apart). I served breakfast and lunch to volunteers and staff, while listening to my favourite songs, such as Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” Julie Andrews’ “The Sound of Music” and Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” I had a blast there and then.

Working at Rogers Centre during the Blue Jays’ season

On Sept.4, Friday, I worked at Section 109, which is Muddy Market. There I served seven types of pizza. That was the day I watched a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre for the very first time in my life. Toronto Blue Jays began their three-game set against the visiting Baltimore Orioles. I have a burning mark on my right arm to remember it. It was also my first time to heat slices of pizza in a large oven.

On Sept. 5, Saturday, I went back to the same marketplace. In the kitchen, I got to know a 25-year-old cook, a Christian and an enthusiastic young man with an interesting first name, Million. When he was a child, he came to Canada from Abu Dhabi, the capital of United Arab Emirates , with his family. He, the youngest of six siblings, is truly a scholar. When he graduated from East York C.I., his average was 99.7! He has already graduated from the medical school at McGill University. Now he is doing his residency at Mount Sinai Hospital. He aspires to become a neurosurgeon. The intelligent and energetic young man made my day.

On Sept. 6, Sunday, I was given Number 119. It’s Queen Street, where I set up more than 700 hot dogs, washed tons of greasy and sticky dishes, swept and mopped floor. Even though my supervisor is Tibetan and I am Chinese, we were doing just fine (Toronto is an interesting place. It is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. Guess who carpooled together when my children went to Claude Watson School for the Art at Sheppard & Yonge? The German, Japanese, Jewish and Chinese families!)

On Sept. 18, Friday, I received Number 523. I ended up working at Pizza Nova. That was my first time to make pizza, pepperoni, veggie and cheese. I helped make 96 pizza (576 slices!) side by side with a Jamaican old lady and a Vietnamese young man. That’s when the Blue Jays came back from their road trip to open a three-game set with Boston Red Sox. The Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 6–1.

On Sept. 20, Sunday, my number was 512. It was my first time to make popcorn, a mountain of them, and fast! I tried to keep up with demands the whole time. My supervisor, Temmy, is a very kind young lady. She even got a drink for each one of us. She said, “Everyone is equal.” I was pleased to hear it. During PanAm Games, I also worked as a supervisor at Ontario Place West Channel. I have learned an important lesson from our event co-ordinator, Stuart, a young gentleman from Britain: as a team lead, you have to make sure that people are happy. It was exactly what Temmy did that day. The Blue Jays fans weren’t happy though. The team fell 4–3 to the Boston Red Sox, their second loss in a row.

On Sept.21, Monday, I worked in the lobby in front of concessions 119 and 120. I refilled toppings of hot dogs (13 kinds) and non-stop cleaned the mess guests made. That was where I watched David Price pitch and Jose Bautista bat for the first time on the T.V. screen. The refill buddy, a 22-year-old man from Nova Scotia, taught me a few things about the baseball game. Isn’t learning a lifelong journey? That evening Blue Jays kicked off their three-game series against the New York Yankees and defeat the Yankees 4–2.

After the game, when I got on a subway train at Union, it was almost midnight. I was tired. I sat down and was ready to take a little nap. Then suddenly it hit me: this is a totally different scene from the morning rush hour. People chatted, smiled and laughed. It was like a party atmosphere. Everyone had a good time. It seemed to me that the excitement of the baseball game didn’t end at the Rogers Centre. To witness that people do enjoy themselves is the reward of my temporary job.

On Sept. 22, Tuesday, my number was 529. I was all eyes and ears because I worked as a runner, who was responsible for handing out the orders to customers: hot dogs, chicken tenders & fries, nachos & cheese, water, lemonade, iced tea, coke…I had a bad day. The work environment was toxic. On top of that, the Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 6–4.

On Sept.23, Wednesday, I was assigned Number 237, which is a snack cart. There I used a different machine to make popcorn. I burned popcorn twice. But my supervisor, Shavar, a bespectacled young man, wasn’t mad at me. Without a word, he just got rid of burned popcorn and made new one right away. Plus the Blue Jays won over Yankees 4–0. It was a good day.

On Sept.25, Friday, I went to Section 220. For the first time in my life I made fries, chicken tenders and poutines. It is not rocket science, of course. My supervisor, Pricilla, is a polite young lady with a Michael “Pinball” Clemons kind of smile. She said, “Could you do me a favour”, “Thank you”, and “Please”. That night the Blue Jays started their last home series against the Tampa Bay Rays and won the game 5–3.

On Sept. 26, Saturday, I chose Section 215, which serves footlong hot dogs. I had never seen footlong hot dogs before. I am always curious about new things. That’s why I chose to go there in the first place. My Filipino co-workers, Christine and Daisy, cooked hot dogs, sausages, peppers and onions to attract people’s sense of smell. I made a Pascal’s Triangle with 45 bags of footlong hot dogs (270 of them) to catch their eyes. That day the Blue Jays defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 10–8.

On Sept. 27, Sunday, I picked Section 211, where I worked at an ice cart with a young lady named Lily. It became my favourite place. A lot of our customers were children since we served slushies, popsicles, ice cream bars, popcorn, chips and candies. It was the Blue Jays’ last home game of the regular season. The team came back to win over the Tampa Bay Rays 5–4 and clinched their first playoff berth in 22 years. Everyone was in such a good mood.

Survival jobs aren’t easy

My job at the Rogers Centre is no-brainer. But it isn’t easy. The business is brisk. You have to be really fast. Customers don’t have a lot of patience waiting in line. They just want to grab food and drinks, then go back to watch the games. During a six- to seven-hour shift, we were so busy serving customers that we usually didn’t have time for a break, even though we felt hungry and thirsty, too.

But here is compensation: From time to time, we could hear the horn honk and the sold-out crowd cheer, applaud and chant, “Let’s go, Blue Jays!” We could feel the excitement inside the stadium. Once in a while we could catch a glimpse of a home run or a strikeout on a T.V. screen ourselves. On Oct. 14, Wednesday when the Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers 6–3 in Game 5 of American League Division Series, we were there to watch the jubilant baseball fans celebrate. On Oct. 19, Monday and Oct. 21, Wednesday, when the Blue Jays won Games 3 and 5 of the American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals, we were there too.

After a baseball game, I walked to Union Station among the Blue Jays fans on Front Street. I looked at glistening skyscrapers and passed the fancy restaurants, coffee shops and the iconic hotel, Fairmont Royal York. I thought to myself: This is definitely a Canadian experience.

Gu Zhenzhen, an occasional teacher, works for Toronto District School Board.