I've re-written this entry three times already and each time, I stop and delete it. I have things that I want to say, to vent, but I just know that they'll be misunderstood, misconstrued, or what ever and there'll be another fight and stuff. Guess, the smart money would be to just shut up and not say a fuckin' word. But, therein lies the dilemma. I started this diary for that specific purpose. To vent. But, since certain people are reading it now, I have to curb my anger, watch what I say, because if I don't, it spills out from the virtual world to the real and becomes an even bigger problem. Maybe I should just start a new diary, under a different name. I'd have everyone e-mail me and I'd tell them the new name and then I could say whatever the hell I want. But I like this diary. I want to keep this one going. Besides, I'm almost too lazy to keep updating this one, let alone two of them. Guess I have some thinking to do. Either I relax and cut loose in here like I really want to do, or I suck it up, and start anew. We'll just have to wait and see.

Every time I read Gawain's diary and he has an entry about working at the theater, I have flashbacks to my time in the "movie industry". When I first moved to Florida, I had $500 in my pocket and a very tiny room reserved for me. Well, the $500 didn't last long and I was in need of a job so I went searching. I found a job listing for a movie theater in a ritzy plaza called Mizner Park, in Boca Raton. I found the theater, which wasn't open yet and said I was there to apply for a job. Well, the manager wasn't in at the moment, so I went to a coffee shop about 100 yards down the sidewalk at the corner opposite the theater and had a cappuccino. As I sat there sipping my $4 cup of coffee (hey, it's Boca!), I noticed a sign for help wanted in the bookstore, which the coffee shop was a part of. After finishing my coffee, I go apply at the theater, but keep thinking about the book store job so, I asked the cute girl behind the counter about the job and she called over to the bookstore and sent me to meet a manager.

Anyway, long story short, I get a job that day at the book store. Thing was, I also got a job, about 3 weeks later, at the movie theater. Sadly, I was never lucky as Gawain. Apprently, he never had to work the concession stands and he got bumped up to projectionist rather quickly. No, where I worked, you start out with the scut work. Concessions. The worst job to have in the world, next to elephant shit cleaner upper, is at the concession stands at the movies. First off, EVERYONE bitches about the prices. "Why is a soda so expensive?" Because, dick cheese, that's where the theater makes it's money. Yup, you heard right. They make absolutely no money off of ticket sales (or so I'm told). That money all goes to the movie company and such. The theater has to cover it's costs through the concession stands. That's why it's $4 for a large drink and $5 for a large popcorn. Deal with it.

Second, even though you would think it's the most important area to the movie theater, since it's where all the money is made, it's the smallest fuckin' space you've ever had to work in. Two people cannot stand back to back in that work area and get anything done. Add to that the fact that people can't make up their fuckin' mind about what they want while they stand in line for 10 minutes (which they also bitch about), but wait until they get to the counter to go "Ummm...I want...ummmm...a...um...uh...large...no medium popcorn...no make it a large after all and a large coke...no diet...no...regular...no gimme a water instead. Wait. No, I'll take a Dr. Pepper, I didn't see you had that (despite the HUGE cardboard Dr. Pepper logo hanging from the ceiling, the Dr. Pepper banner over the concession area, and the fact that ALL of the cups are Dr. Pepper maroon with the fuckin' words Dr. Pepper all over them!). Then the fukker hands you a $50, and you have to call down to the managers office, where you just know they're sitting back in their eazy chairs, watching the security monitors going, "Shit, that concession stand is busy" to ask for someone to bring you change, for which you'll have to wait another 10 minutes while they play the best 2 out of 3 in Rock-Paper-Scissors to see who gets to go bring you the change. Concessions suck!

The job I wanted, aside from projectionist, was in the box office. You got these cool heaphone thingies and you only really had to work in like 20-30 minute spurts. One especially shitty night, I had worked a full 8½ hours at the book store and then went to work for 6+ hours at the theater, and it was a busy fuckin' night. The concession area was a complete fuckin' mess. I headed down to the managers office to get some extra change and such while we were cleaning up, as we have to do between rushes, and spotted the fuckin' pimply ass, smart mouth, teeny bopper who was working the box office actually listening to CD's and reading a book. What kind of shit is this? Why don't you get your ass out of there and do some fuckin' work?! I only worked there a couple of weeks and I was gone. Two jobs I can handle, but working at a theater is not a job.

In Gawain's defense, I did get to go up and look at the projectors with the projectionist. Man, you talk about intimidating pieces of equipment. I was expecting the old fashion kind with the big reel of film on the top in front which was fed through the projector and then rolled up onto the reel at the rear. No way, man. The projector I saw looked like something out of Star Trek. To the left of the machine was this huge flat metal disc with the film all rolled up on it. The film was like an inch wide or more. The disc rotated slowly as the film was fed to the projector, where it then came out the other side and was rolled back up on a second huge metal turntable on the right side of the machine. The "reel" of film for just one movie looked to have about 2-3 foot radius. That's 6 feet in diameter. This thing looked so expensive I didn't even want to breathe in it's direction. So, I can see why Gawain would be apprehensive.

Oh well, that's enough for today. I've got to take care of a "fire" here at work so I'd best get to it. Catch you guys next entry. And remember, be kind to your next concession attendant. They'll silently thank you for it.

Much luv!