Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
More movie theater
Here I am at the conclusion of my second weekend working at the movie theater, and I must say I do like it quite a bit. So far I've ushered and worked the kiosk, both of which have their pros and cons and interesting bits, as follows:
Ushering: such a massive amount of trash to clean up! Especially after a sold-out kid's film like Bolt (which is very popular these days, and in 3-D! oooooh...). Between cleaning the theaters, the floor, the bathrooms, your hands, and then starting all over again, it does get rather exhausting, and the other part of the ushering job is keeping the peace when people (ie kids) act up. One of my co-workers actually informed me that he gets put on ushering sometimes because he "likes throwing people out." I suspect I won't be ushering much in the future mainly because I'm really bad at being mean.
But ushering does have its perks: you get to wander in and see bits of the films on your down time, which is kind of fun. I actually popped in to see bits of Bolt and it was entertaining, though not much else, but certainly better than Hotel for Dogs (yes, Hotel for Dogs... sigh).
So that's ushering, overall hard and tiring, but essentially brainless, which is why they put the newbies on it first, of course.
Things I've learned while ushering: people are slobs, but it's okay because that's why I get paid; if you watch one of those 3-D movies without glasses it gives you a headache after awhile; and a "clean" theater most likely just has all the popcorn and soda straws and used napkins swept under the seats (feel free to check, I'd be curious to know if that applies to all theaters or just the Stratford Picture House). Perhaps that's why they always keep it so dark in there...
And then there's kiosk! Selling popcorn and candy and soda and muffins and beer and lollypops and fruit juice and nachos and sometimes movie tickets... Whew! This one's a bit trickier than ushering, but I actually like it a lot more: you're on the clean end of the mess, so to speak, and I have fun using the till.
Things I've learned while working in the kiosk: people are greedy, but it's okay because that's why I get paid; people are willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money on movie snacks: today I watched a family of four spend more on popcorn, soda, and hot dogs than I spend on a week's worth of groceries; and the most popular things are often the ones that are composed mainly of chemicals and come in generic silver bags (you can't tell the nacho cheese from the slush mix out of context... shudder).
So that's my work so far, and I really don't mind it at all. Thirteen hours wasn't too bad yesterday, and five was a breeze today. And besides the amazingly short commute, there's also plenty of perks to make up for the minimum wages: for instance, I get 20 free movie tickets a week for me and one for a friend, which is really dumb, because who's going to personally see 20 movies a week? But of course the employees get around it by using each other's tickets, through a handy loophole in the system. So basically I never have to pay for a movie again and neither do my friends! Sweet! There's also often waste popcorn and candy at the end of the day, which I'm free to take home. And my coworkers and managers are really nice, which is a major plus.
And that's my new job! Pretty sweet, eh? Just let me know if you're ever in town and need free tickets... ;)
Ushering: such a massive amount of trash to clean up! Especially after a sold-out kid's film like Bolt (which is very popular these days, and in 3-D! oooooh...). Between cleaning the theaters, the floor, the bathrooms, your hands, and then starting all over again, it does get rather exhausting, and the other part of the ushering job is keeping the peace when people (ie kids) act up. One of my co-workers actually informed me that he gets put on ushering sometimes because he "likes throwing people out." I suspect I won't be ushering much in the future mainly because I'm really bad at being mean.
But ushering does have its perks: you get to wander in and see bits of the films on your down time, which is kind of fun. I actually popped in to see bits of Bolt and it was entertaining, though not much else, but certainly better than Hotel for Dogs (yes, Hotel for Dogs... sigh).
So that's ushering, overall hard and tiring, but essentially brainless, which is why they put the newbies on it first, of course.
Things I've learned while ushering: people are slobs, but it's okay because that's why I get paid; if you watch one of those 3-D movies without glasses it gives you a headache after awhile; and a "clean" theater most likely just has all the popcorn and soda straws and used napkins swept under the seats (feel free to check, I'd be curious to know if that applies to all theaters or just the Stratford Picture House). Perhaps that's why they always keep it so dark in there...
And then there's kiosk! Selling popcorn and candy and soda and muffins and beer and lollypops and fruit juice and nachos and sometimes movie tickets... Whew! This one's a bit trickier than ushering, but I actually like it a lot more: you're on the clean end of the mess, so to speak, and I have fun using the till.
Things I've learned while working in the kiosk: people are greedy, but it's okay because that's why I get paid; people are willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money on movie snacks: today I watched a family of four spend more on popcorn, soda, and hot dogs than I spend on a week's worth of groceries; and the most popular things are often the ones that are composed mainly of chemicals and come in generic silver bags (you can't tell the nacho cheese from the slush mix out of context... shudder).
So that's my work so far, and I really don't mind it at all. Thirteen hours wasn't too bad yesterday, and five was a breeze today. And besides the amazingly short commute, there's also plenty of perks to make up for the minimum wages: for instance, I get 20 free movie tickets a week for me and one for a friend, which is really dumb, because who's going to personally see 20 movies a week? But of course the employees get around it by using each other's tickets, through a handy loophole in the system. So basically I never have to pay for a movie again and neither do my friends! Sweet! There's also often waste popcorn and candy at the end of the day, which I'm free to take home. And my coworkers and managers are really nice, which is a major plus.
And that's my new job! Pretty sweet, eh? Just let me know if you're ever in town and need free tickets... ;)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Popcorn overload
12 hours first day movie theater job! Tired, so fragments.
Found in theaters while cleaning: umbrella, 10 pounds (if no one claims it in 3 months I get to keep it!), bottle of "xtra red": I showed it to just about everyone who worked there and no-one could tell what it was, but it was labelled "hazardous, flammable" etc. Also, a BOATLOAD of popcorn. Like seriously, could've filled a yacht.
Started out in kiosk selling popcorn and slushies, moved upstairs to usher for rest of day. Emptying trash, replacing toilet paper (or loo rolls as they call them here, ain't that cute?), sweeping popcorn under seats, checking tickets, for TEN HOURS. Actually not that bad, though everyone said it was a real "trial by fire": high hopes that this means the job is quite easy usually.
Left at 10:05, arrived home 10:10. <3 . Also, due in at 1 tomorrow, waking up at 11:00 at the earliest. Heck yeah.
Found in theaters while cleaning: umbrella, 10 pounds (if no one claims it in 3 months I get to keep it!), bottle of "xtra red": I showed it to just about everyone who worked there and no-one could tell what it was, but it was labelled "hazardous, flammable" etc. Also, a BOATLOAD of popcorn. Like seriously, could've filled a yacht.
Started out in kiosk selling popcorn and slushies, moved upstairs to usher for rest of day. Emptying trash, replacing toilet paper (or loo rolls as they call them here, ain't that cute?), sweeping popcorn under seats, checking tickets, for TEN HOURS. Actually not that bad, though everyone said it was a real "trial by fire": high hopes that this means the job is quite easy usually.
Left at 10:05, arrived home 10:10. <3 . Also, due in at 1 tomorrow, waking up at 11:00 at the earliest. Heck yeah.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Would you like popcorn with that?
As some of you might remember, when I first started looking for a job in October I applied at a movie theater near my house, but was turned away because I was going home for the winter holidays. Well, guess what? Last week I went in to see a movie and was informed that they were hiring again, so I dropped in my resume, and poof, I suddenly have a new job! I go in Friday to fill out paperwork, and Saturday I start! With a 12-hour day! On Valentine's Day! ...... Aaaaaah! But I guess if I can handle that I can handle anything, eh? I'll probably also still be going in to Synovate (I'm allowed to work 20 hours with my student visa, and the theater promises only 12-15), and I think it'll be nice to have some variety in my working life.
Just for fun, pros and cons of both jobs!
Synovate (market research)
Pros: free coffee and tea, I can wear whatever I want on the job (including no shoes), sitting down is wonderful, co-workers pretty cool, fun to talk to people, LISPA friends to commute with, pay isn't bad at all.
Cons: the frickin' hour-long commute (!!!), sore throat sometimes, bitchy people.
Picture House (movie theater)
Pros: really close to my house (!!!!!), possible free movies, food, etc.
Cons: have to wear nice-looking clothes and (horror!) shoes, standing up all day, all the little things that I'll tell you about when I recover from this weekend... ;)
Just for fun, pros and cons of both jobs!
Synovate (market research)
Pros: free coffee and tea, I can wear whatever I want on the job (including no shoes), sitting down is wonderful, co-workers pretty cool, fun to talk to people, LISPA friends to commute with, pay isn't bad at all.
Cons: the frickin' hour-long commute (!!!), sore throat sometimes, bitchy people.
Picture House (movie theater)
Pros: really close to my house (!!!!!), possible free movies, food, etc.
Cons: have to wear nice-looking clothes and (horror!) shoes, standing up all day, all the little things that I'll tell you about when I recover from this weekend... ;)
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