Tips and a Tan

The economy is good, and the rich and kindarich are looking for ways to spend their money. One way they dispose of extra income is "summering" in tony resort towns. From Vail to the Vineyard, the welltodo arrive in droves around Memorial Day and don't leave till September. Someone needs to cater to their every whim. Restaurants, beach clubs, stores, and activity directors are desperate to hire competent help. Jobs abound. So if you want to get in on the action but can't afford a three months of leisure (yet), get a close to the high life as the hired help in a swanky summer spot. For the choicest employment, get there early and plan to stay all summer. "Our season begins Memorial Day weekend," says Donna Stephens, the director of summer jobs for the Montauk Yacht Club Resort & Marina on Long Island. "People who are able to start working earlier definitely get preferential treatment." It also helps to be "neat, clean, outgoing, and responsible," says Hank Whitin, who hires waitstaff and bartenders for the Cheeky Monkey Café in Newport, RI. At least try to fake it, because a job in a resort town can bring you "a lot of money from all the tourists who come into town," Whitin adds. Plus, getting the right job will help make your summer vacation seem more like a vacation and less like drudgery. I spent the summer before my junior year living and working in Jackson Hole, WY, where the rich and wouldbe adventurous come to ride horses, climb mountains, and play golf. I left on an almost crosscountry trek to get there as soon as my finals ended. There was still snow on the ground when I arrived at the end of May, before the throngs of incoming tourists set up camp. Experienced resort workers had warned me that early arrival was key to gainful employment, so the day we arrived, my friends and I set out with a mission: get a job, any job. We shouldn't have worried quite so much: Because we were there so early, we had an array of jobs from which to choose. We took the first jobs we found, as worker bees for the Jackson Hole Skiing Company. The JHSC basically ran everything right at the resort, from the tram, to snack bars, to restaurants, to stores that sold all kinds of tacky Jackson Hole garb. I was assigned store counter duty, selling puffy paint sweatshirts and Jackson Hole bumper stickers. Things were going well. Then, somehow, it came up that I was fairly competent in the kitchen. They needed a shortorder cook, ASAP. Someone to take the orders, be sweet to customers, then whip up a mean Huevos Rancheros. I was immediately transferred to kitchen duty. This was a sweaty job. I liked parts of it, but hated scrubbing the grill. A few days later, someone told me there was an opening for a lifeguard/ tennis teacher/ concierge/ grillmaster at Spring Creek resort, a four star resort. Yes! No more apron and griddle grease. Granted, I was sold on the idea of being a tennis instructor, when in reality I was last on the instructor roster and taught about five lessons all summer. And I had to clean the pool filters. But I was outside, making more money, and I got free horseback riding. Luckily, there's more to life in a resort town than your job. Days off are the best. They're why you came, and you learn to make them count. I quickly learned that in Jackson Hole there are benefits to being a "local", for which the only required proof is a paystub from a local company. Most area companies treat local workers to free stuff, including whitewater rafting and bike rentals. The idea is that we'll talk it up to the wealthy folks we meet at our day jobs. Fine with me. If you're living in a resort town, there are probably reasons why people pay lots of money to visit. Get out and enjoy them when you can. In Jackson Hole, we had endless mountains to climb and trails to bike. The restaurants are yummy, and the bars are fun. My "borrowed" ID got quite a workout that summer. When the summer ended, it was easy to forget the hours of hard labor. Did I mention I spent more time resurfacing the tennis court that playing on it? Ah well, that's the price of a life of almostluxury when you're a poor college student. My few days off were well worth any amount of sludge cleaned from a pool drain. Christie Matheson prefers scrambled eggs to Heuvos Rancheros.