Theater Employees

Our theater hires an assortment of odd characters - myself being the oddest. I'm also the oldest. Most of our employees are teenagers - juniors and seniors, some high-school drop-outs, and a handful of employees with some sort of learning disability. There are some younger adults, who like myself, work at other jobs; some are in the restaurant business, others in dry cleaning or retail. Since only the two full-time managers get 40 hours a week, a second or third job is a necessity.

As soon as I walked in last night, a female employee rushed over to show off her new hickey. She's madly in puppy love with a teenage boy who works both concessions and usher. They've been a couple now for almost a month, so it's pretty serious.

There is one employee who's autistic. He's also lazy. His mom insists that he's capable of doing more, but management is afraid to ask him do more than tear tickets. When a manager has asked him to count the tickets, he claims he can't count; nor can he use Windex to clean the doors when there's a lull in theater traffic. I agree with his mom, this kid is more lazy than disabled. He's always waiting for me to arrive so he can leave. I'll refuse to relieve him though until he counts his tickets. The other day he moaned, "Why do you put me through so much misery?" I wonder who's going to take care of him when his parents are gone. In the meantime, this 'special needs' employee spends his four or five hour shift walking in circles and swinging his arms, which is more exercise than some of us get.

Then there are three rather plump ladies that do nothing but work the box office. There's one in particular who gets a lot of complaints because she does a lot of sighing when she has to put down her puzzle book and actually sell some tickets. The box office people are isolated from the rest of the theater staff, so we don't really know them as well as we know one another in concessions and usher.

The GM keeps threatening to train me in concessions. I don't mind the work, I just can't see to read the little buttons on the screen. Every size of popcorn, soda, and every item of candy has it's own button. I'll have to wear my reading glasses to see the monitor and will spend a lot of time wiping the popcorn oil from the lenses.

There's one usher who's a pretty good worker, when he's not talking to customers. He has this habit of asking people leaving the theater, "So, from one to five stars, how many would you give this movie?" The customer will answer 'Three", and the usher will say, "Really?! Gosh, I would have given it a 3 1/2 stars. You know this film was produced by Miramax and they're only good at putting out movies that include a lot of sex. The best film makers are the French, yada-yada-yada." By the time he finishes talking to the customer, I've cleaned the theater and we're on to the next auditorium where he grabs another unsuspecting customer and goes through it all again.

We have another employee who really doesn't want to be there. He spends most of his time texting. Theater rules are that employees leave their cell phones either in their cars or in the locker in the breakroom. This guy claims that he sends and receives over 10,000 text messages a month. His thumbs are flat as pancakes.

Managers earn their money at the theater. They back up the box office and concessions when we're busy, help clean the theater, inventory every cup and bag and candy bar every night, run the projectors, make the schedules, build the movies, unload the supply truck, and put up with us employees. I used to think I wanted to manage a theater, but after watching what these guys have to do and the late hours they have to work (as late as 4 in the morning), no thanks.

My favorite manager is a Pakistani. He only works on Saturday nights. He's my age, so we get along really well. We both gripe about Hillary and how the Republicans are no different from Democrats anymore. We're leaning towards Obama because at least he admits he's a liberal. He's a Muslim, I'm a Christian - which must come as a surprise to other Christians who read this blog. Sometimes we talk about our faith. He says, "You American Christians are fucked-up. You claim you follow Christ but you really follow money. All you care about is your big homes, your cars, your credit. What about the poor and hungry that Jesus told you to take care of?" I can't argue with him - he's right. He lives a simple life, hates debt, despises the excesses of Hollywood and people who look to actors and athletes as heroes. Despite our differences in faith, we're in agreement with how far America has fallen when it comes to being a nation the world should look up to. And in spite of our problems, he still loves America - just like I do. Late in the evenings, when we're both tired from cleaning theaters, my manager friend will tell me to take things slow - "Go do theater checks while we clean the rest of the auditoriums - take your time."

It's relationships like this that make cleaning up behind thoughtless people bearable. We don't have to like or get along with every person we work with, but we share a lot of the same experiences - even the same values. Anyone who works in a service industry will tell you it's a thankless job. People expect perfection but aren't willing to pay for it or give it the respect it's due. It's not a bad thing for a young girl to look at me as some father figure; or some teenage boy to learn a work ethic from 'the old guy'; or for a special needs kid to be challenged, or for a Muslim to consider a Christian as a friend. My feet may hurt, it may be hard to bend over and pick up a dropped ticket, but I'm blessed to be able to work and to have relationships with people I wouldn't have otherwise met.

Remember as you enter a theater that the people who work there have their own dreams and troubles. The person who tears your ticket may not be the brightest youth you've met, but he's qualified to tear tickets. The girl with the hickey isn't a slut, she's an honors student. The black guy who wants to know how many stars you'd give the movie likes Asian girlss and French cuisine and works full-time at Dairy Queen - he does the best he can. And if you see a couple of older guys cleaning the theater, grab a broom and help out.