December, 2002: Crazies
December, 2002: Crazies
Job Journal Entry: Tuesday, December 3rd, 2002.
Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone. The day after T-day is typically busy, but wow, the place was swamped. To top things off, the power went out several times. Customers kept getting mean and belligerent and even pushed one of my co-workers to the point of crying uncontrollably and needing to be sent home. The newly promoted acting General Manager was also getting pretty worn down by the thoughtless bitching and one lady in particular wouldn't stop yelling and scream so he said "Ma’am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you don't lower your voice, you're scaring all the little children." So the lady was like "I don't see any children," and he was like "That's because they're all hiding." I think that's kind of funny...
This weekend I also got to go up into the booth several times. It took over a year at Ridge for me to make it into the booth, and I only got to go up because the place was closing. As with all things at Ridge, the booths were HUGE. At West Tower, however, they are more than diminutive. It was like walking through a dark maze full of easy to push buttons. The floor is also mushy and uneasy to walk on. Maybe it wouldn't be so much fun to be a projectionist.
Sunday was my day. The lobby at West Tower has a concession stand on either side of the entrance to the auditoriums. When it's busy, we open both sides. On Sunday I handled an entire side on my own. At the end of the day, not only was my register completely even, but all of my stock was even as well. This is a highly regarded accomplishment. I was described as "one of the good employees." WOOHOO!!!
So anyway. In a week I'll be on a month long winter break from college and I plan to work a lot. We'll see how that goes...
Job Journal Entry: Tuesday, December 10th, 2002.
This weekend saw my return to the box office. Unlike before, this was not such a terrible experience. I've made an effort to learn all the special little buttons and coupons and I think I've gotten the hang of it. And, as expected, it seems I'll be spending a lot more time in there as at least half my shifts are now shifts in the box.
Also, as it is now winter break, I've requested more hours which I was told I would get. So, only half surprisingly, my hours were actually cut back. Bastards.
This weekend also held danger and excitement. The West Tower Theater is part of a mid-sized outdoor mall with many shops and eateries. Well, Saturday night I was in the box doing my job and customers kept asking me if I knew what was going on and I'm just like "Um, movies are going on...?" They then informed me that both roads on either side of the theater had been blocked off by several police cars and the side and rear of the theater was also acting as a make shift home base for some kind of major police happening. A police airplane with a spotlight also kept circling the area and the nearby woods were swarming with cops. As it turns out, the ice cream shop (located very near the theater) was robbed and I guess they were looking for the guy. It was quite exciting but I couldn't help but feel slightly vulnerable sitting in a well lit glass room jetting out from the theater. Exciting nonetheless.
I also recently found out that one of the oldies from Ridge is going to start working at West Tower. I'm not so sure this is a good thing. I'll stay open minded and we'll see what happens.
Today I went to the theater to see a movie. As I've only worked weekends, none of the weekday people knew I worked there and I had a bit of trouble getting employee passes and I was treated as a customer rather than a comrade. It was kind of annoying but I was extra friendly and patient, don't want to burn any bridges after all.
What else? I guess that's all for now.
Job Journal Entry: Saturday, December 14th, 2002.
So, tonight I'm at work, in the box again, and I'm trying to sell these little heart charity things. The other person in the box was selling the things too and it became an intense competition between us. When I went on my break, we were nearly neck and neck, but upon my return I was down 10 and then 12, and then 20. In the end, I sold 28 while they sold forty. As I feel I should be the best at my job, to be slaughtered so easily and completely in this competition was a bit... weird. Although, the other person had many, many more customers than myself and sold many of the heart thing to their friends, so under the circumstances, maybe I did better. Although, to sell forty heart things (at two bucks each) is a pretty significant accomplishment and my hat goes off to my co-worker. Since it's a charity, 40 hearts equals out to 80 bucks worth of medicine for some sick kid out there. I also seem to remember that last year when we did the same fund raiser, the most heart things that I (or anyone else at Ridge) sold was 27 and tonight I sold 28. I beat my personal best so I guess I did pretty well.
Tonight was also the first time I ever "sold out" a movie. It took one year, six months and four days, but I finally did it. Such would have never been possible at Ridge I suppose, but even tonight it was a surprise.
When we sold out the movie, there were still twenty five seats open, but people were sitting in the aisle. That's a fire hazard so we told the people to find seats and offered to help but a group of six become really, really mad and made a big scene. In the end, we laughed at them when they left.
In the box, there is a big red button labeled "Panic Stop." It's good to know that if I ever start panicking for any reason, all I have to do is push a button and all my panicking will go away. (hehe)
My boss's boss made an appearance today. My boss's boss's boss is making an appearance later in the week. Hmmm... I wonder if it was my boss's boss's boss that decided to close Ridge and sell it off... bastard...
What more can I say? I guess that's all for now.
Job Journal Entry: Tuesday, December 18th, 2002.
Work continues, school does not. I've finished my first semester of college and moved back home for the month long winter break. All of my college friends have moved back home as well which leaves me completely bored and with nothing to do but work. This winter break has the potential to suck. Work sometimes sucks. Sometimes it doesn't. Tonight was my first week night at West Tower. I was the only concessionist.
Tomorrow, Lord of the Rings 2 comes out. I made thirteen bags of popcorn (six times the normal amount) to be used tomorrow.
Tomorrow my boss's boss's boss will also be visiting. So much work has gone into making the place deceptively clean and professional.
Tonight I finally realized what the foreign janitor has been trying to tell me for the past month. I still think he's an asshole.
I sometimes wonder if highly evolved rats live in the sublevels of the movie theater that come out at night to feast on left over popcorn while discussing the high points of the new movies. I also sometimes wonder why I am not supreme ruler of the world. After all, I should be.
Job Journal Entry: Friday, December 21st, 2002.
HaHa! What a job. I work with crazies. All of them, crazy. Crazy!
Anyway, we've spent the past two weeks preparing for a visit from one of the big-wigs and they finally made their appearance on Wednesday. For all the work we did, all the work I did, the guys were there for twenty minutes. They didn't so much as glance at concession or marvel at all the cabinets we cleaned out and scrubbed. And the midget closet I spent 6 hours organizing and cleaning was completely blocked off. What's up with that? I hear it all worked out well, though, so I guess it's all good, right?
What else? I worked my first weekday earlier this week and I ended up working with a bunch of... old guys. Really old, like 70's 80's old. They were all pretty gentlemanly and nice, though.
Yesterday, there was a bug at work. Aside from nats, bugs are really rare at the theater. It was big talk for a while.
Ah, a bit of excitement last night. The floor lights in one of out auditoriums shorted out in a big show of sparks and smoke sending managers running and customers worrying. It was cool. I wonder what would happen if the place did burn down. That would suck. (I used to joke about Ridge burning down) Geez, if West Tower was destroyed (or closed) I think that would be it for me and my movie theater career, hehe.
It's weird. I was really dreading working at WT. It's common knowledge that the place is ghetto and when I first starting working there, that was obvious. Now though, I can't see what's so bad about it. How can anyone think it's ghetto? It's a clean place and runs well. Ridge was much more ghetto. That place was so spread out and had so many secluded areas that it's a wonder no one was ever murdered there. Really, all it had going for it and keeping it from being labeled "ghetto" was the huge church across the street and Westbury Pharmacy (an old timer hangout behind the theater). Anyway, it'll suck when WT closes in a couple of years...
Note to self: I knew it would happen. We'll see how things change.
Job Journal Entry: Friday, December 27th, 2002.
Today I am 19.
I haven't been to work for nearly a week because I went to Orlando for the holidays. The last day I worked, there were a lot of crazy people at the theater. One of the crazies included a guy that kept talking to himself very loudly. Another was a guy with two guns strapped to his sides. The manager didn't do anything because in this state it is legal to have a weapon as long as it is in clear view, and the guns were very much in view...
My last night I also got to do the phone recording. So everytime someone called to hear the listing, it was me they would hear. After four tries I finally got it right and that was that.
What else? I guess that's all for now...
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