Back on the Job

My first day back on the job could be best described as a summary of everything that has happened to me while ushering since I was hired. Each more ridiculous than the last.

Where do I begin the list?

First was the spontaneous new training on how to do my theatre walks this summer season. They replaced the obnoxious and hard-to-handle notebooks with clipboards that are anchored to the wall, and I have to sign those with a highlighter of a different color per set of shows. Let's just say I can't read in the dark, because I couldn't figure out which slot was today's day until halfway through the first set. Good thing the markers are color coded, and it's a good thing I told my managers about my goof up.

I was called "ma'am" twice because of my ponytail by customers who were behind me.

I had to deal with a pair of frat boys that bought tickets to Speed Racer, decided they didn't want to watch the movie, and thought it was alright to theatre hop because all they saw were the previews and not the actual movie. Idiots.

I lost the highlighter for the second set of shows at one point. I found it when it came time to clean the theatre I lost it in.

A few theatres didn't get clean because of my 35 minute break, but given how light the traffic was, it didn't really matter.

Oh, and here's the kicker. Apparently, I need to be retrained. Corporate has a new training program for new employees and are asking that current employees under go the same program to keep things consistent. From what I've been told, it's boring as hell because they will just tell you everything you already know. The trade-off is that it's paid training.

As far as the social scene goes with what few co-workers remember me and that I'm friends with, it's like I never left. I called Justin, but he didn't pick up his cell. He still hasn't called me back as of this blog, and for some reason I'm starting to feel like work friends should stay in the work environment. He was the one that I enjoyed the walk through the park with before we both parted ways for college, and I'd really like to just hang out with him again because I like his company. I had a crush on him that I foolishly admitted to him, but now I just like to hang out with him. Besides, I think that was all lust and not a genuine crush in the sense that I wanted to get to know him better.

As I got caught up with all the changes, I slowly got this love-hate feeling towards work. The job isn't all that bad or physically demanding, but at the same time I have to deal with a lot of stupid crap. For example, I found out today that ushers have to carry a roll of paper towels with them when they clean theatres. While I understand the new protocol from Corporate, it just makes walking around that much more difficult when you are carrying that, a broom, and someone's jacket they forgot they were wearing. Did I mention we're serving pizza now? I'm just waiting for the day some kid gets it and flips it on to the floor.

Other than that, ushering comes with the usual job of spoiling movies for me. But given my nerdom and interest in what movies I do want to see, there are only two I am willing to try to put some effort into seeing in theatres: Wall-E and Indy. Speed I want to appreciate on an artistic level, and to do that I need to see it in the privacy of my own home. Iron Man, Hulk, and The Dark Knight are all movie franchises that require commitment to keep up with (especially if you saw the stinger at the end of Iron Man). That's something I don't have the time or energy to do, as damaging as it is to me since popular media is a core influence in my art.

Speaking of which, I wonder if I'll have the energy on my days off to go to my studio space, especially since I'm expecting a large scale digital print next week that's costing me an arm and a leg.