Difficult Jobs...

Yesterday marked yet another working anniversary for me. I have now officially been working at the movie theatre for two full years. I know...I should be excited that I made it two years at a tough job that most people can only deal with for 3 months at best! I guess I should blame the "not giving up mentality" on my mother. haha Growing up she always told myself and two siblings that if we started something we had to stick with it for the whole year.

There have been times where I have accepted a job offer, sat for two weeks in complete misery and said that I could not do it any longer. This happened to me when I first moved to Tucson in 2006. I accepted an administrative assistant position at a local exterminating company. So what was the big deal? The company was just awful on how it was ran. The phones were extremely busy and I could not leave my desk even if my life depended on it. The people who worked there would stand up by the front desk (my desk) and drop "F bombs" while I was on the phone. I am even talking about managers! Just not what I wanted. I quit after two weeks and found something different. Well, so I thought. I found a position at a local plumbing/electrical contractor company working as a dispatcher. I loved my HR manager there. She told me to be careful as the owners of this small business like to micromanage everything one does in the office. I saw quickly how this company worked. Even though I hated the job towards the end of my time in Tucson, I stuck it out for seven long months. I then got married and moved to Connecticut.

January of 2008, Rob and I came to the conclusion that I should go back to work. I was bored at home, the Ebay selling from home was not really working and I needed to find some friends. I applied at lots of retail places as I was starting school in March and so I needed something that I would be able to change my hours every 12 weeks or so with out having lots of issues from management. I had to interviews on one day with two job offers. I decided to go with the movie theatre, even though it paid less, due to the fact that it was a stable job. I am glad I chose the movie theatre now only because the other place that offered me a job is no longer in business.

I remember one of the first nights of training at AMC. The computer network went down for the whole theatre. The box office cashiers had to issue tickets that one would use for a raffell and keep track of what movie and show time people were going to. Myself and another person were suppose to get trained in concessions, but since the compters were down we were thrown to do ushering with the other 4 people. I hated this and thought that the training and management could be a little bit more organized. But I told myself to push through it as it was just new to me and eventually I would know what I was suppose to be doing. Once the 90 day mark hit, I congratulated myself as I had made it through probably the hardest 90 days I had at a new job. By then I had made aquaintences with some of the people who worked there, and finally feeling accpted even though I was probably one of the oldest people working there besides my GM and a couple other managers or maintenance workers. July of 2008, I was asked if I would be interested in the Admin. Assistant position at the theatre. I did get a pay raise and it would consist of doing paper work and not being out on the theatre floor 3-4 shifts. I accepted the promotion and loved it. Yes it was challenging because of how my GM treated his employees. I had to work one on one with him at times, but I just pushed my feelings aside if I could. I told myself that I had worked with more difficult people in the past, and this GM was nothing. In March of 2009, I was informed that AMC would be deleting my AA position nationwide in theatres as they felt that it was not sufficient for theatres. I was bummed and was told that I had two options. Quit or step down to a film crew person. I decided to step down (i was able to keep my pay as it was not my fault that I was having to go backwards on the job ladder). In the summer of 2009, a new GM to work at my theatre...and well the whole atmosphere has changed for the better. As much as I didn't care for my previous GM in many ways...I kind of miss the militant style of work ethic for the employees.

So now I am here with a 2 year pin on my work shirt collar. Congrats to me!!! The longest I have ever been with any job is 2.5 years and unfortunately that will be the same with this job as Rob and I are moving. Will I stay with AMC when I move? Well it depends on where we go and if there is an AMC that I could work for. If so, then I will probably just transfer...but I am growing tired of working with high schoolers and their drama. So if I find something new, I would love to work at a place that is closed on the major calendar holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. I will though miss the ability to watch movies for free. Well, I think Rob will miss that more than I, as he takes advantage of that more than me anymore.