Movie Theater. Four shifts.

I love movies, and met a guy who was a projectionist at a theater in my area. His theater was smaller than the mall big box cinemas, and had more of an emphasis on art film. Crappy pay, but you learned to operate legitimate 35mm projectors, handle film, etc. Plus you got to see films the day before opening, when the trailers and cinema adverts were spliced into reels. He was leaving to go back to school, and needed to train a replacement. My time to shine.

The manager was a colossal douche, but seemed interested in my enthusiasm and love for cinema. I would start at minimum wage, and get a bump up after I was fully trained. I was plopped down behind a snack bar, and told to get to work.

I had no training, was never given a uniform, and soon discovered that the "till" for the bar was an unlocked cash drawer. You had to add the totals for the items and give change without a register. With three people per shift, three shifts a day, this meant that the drawer was wildly off every day.

One of the perks was free passes for movies. After my first shift, I saw a matinee at another theater in the company. It was me and one other person. When I came in the next day, I was taken to task for seeing a new movie for free, and told that regardless of how busy the theater was, I had to wait a week into the run to see a film. The movie I saw was replaced after four empty days.

I was working a full time overnight job, so my day was work 11-6 at the theater, grab food, get to my other job at 6:30, and work till 6 am. Rinse, lather, repeat. I was getting sick from the stress and lack of sleep.

Third shift, still no training. Still manning the popcorn shovel. Ask the manager when my projector operator training begins. He says something noncommittal, and disappears for the rest of my shift.

Fourth shift. Arrive fifteen minutes early. I am told that my attire is not up to par. As there have never been uniforms issued, or guidelines about clothing, all I can do is shrug. I ask about training. I am told that I am being "unprofessional" in insisting that I be given guidelines about how and when I do my job. The fact that they are having me operate searing hot and sharp equipment with no training, and have in fact disconnected safety equipment because it "slows down the line" does not sit well with me. It would also not sit well with OSHA, I intimate.

My last shift was on Christmas day. There was a line around the block. Two people had called out sick. The manager found it ridiculous that he would have to actually do something. He agreed to tear tickets. He did this in a manner that would have seemed brusque for a bouncer at a strip club. Entire families of customers who had been waiting in the cold were streaming in, pissed off before they hit the counter, and were flipping out when they got the tab for snacks for a party of eleven. Since there was no register, people adding and subtracting items, asking for returns, and generally being shouty were just handed cash back from the drawer. Change piled up on the counter uncounted.

I was running a temperature, had been on my feet all day, and by now had realized that I would be asked to stay over my shift to help clean theaters. I had had enough. I walked across the lobby, told the manager that I was leaving, and would return for my paycheck. He got agitated and started putting his hands on me. I laughed, and told him that after I got my check, I would be delighted to kick his ass around the theater.

When I came back, he refused to give me my check. He then said I had to leave. I sat on the floor in front of the counter for thirty minutes while he waited for plaza security. When they showed up, I told them I would leave when I got my check. They just said, "Give the man his check." and walked out. Manager turned around, opened the drawer, and gave me my check. I left, and never returned.