First Job

I'm sure everyone remembers their first job. I look back on my first job with fondness. I was hired in March, 1988 as a doorperson at General Cinema V in White Settlement. When I started working there, the theater was probably close to ten years old, but it still looked pretty good. The concession stand was elliptical and was the center of the lobby. We called the carpet "pizza carpet" because it was this wild red pattern that looked like you could drop pizza on it and no one would notice. My salary -- a whopping $3.35 per hour. We worked long days (especially in the summer) and obviously we didn't make a lot of money, and the uniforms were a bit dorky, but we had fun. I was a doorperson for a while and then I asked to work in the concession stand. That was harder work and I didn't really like it as much because I didn't get to wander around as much. But I still had a good time. For some reason, I especially liked working during the week during the school season when we were on an abbreviated schedule. I was usually the only one working in the concession stand on those nights and I would open it up and close it down. I wasn't too crazy about sticking around until midnight during school weeks, but it didn't matter on the weekends. Sometimes the closing crew would go out for dinner afterwards. Our options for a sit-down meal at that hour were a bit limited to IHOP or the Old South Pancake House, but we didn't care. I worked as a cashier for a while and while that had its moments, it was extremely boring. I had to stay in that little box all day, and I nearly froze to death in the winter. Fortunately, I could watch the planes taking off at Carswell AFB. We also had the best perk: free movies! We had arrangements with other local theaters where we could get in on passes for movies as long as it wasn't a brand new movie.

My parents were a bit anxious about me working. They never pressed me to get a job, but I wanted to earn my own money and having something more to do on weekends. I think they wanted me to enjoy more freedom since I would be working forever, and it might also have been a bit sad knowing that I was growing up and probably wouldn't live at home much longer. When I got the job, my dad glowered at me in his best fatherly manner and told me that I could take the job as long as I kept my grades up. It turned out okay, since the school year was starting to wind down anyway. Working also got me out of two tasks at home that had really begun to chafe: mowing the yard and going to church. Actually, I had accidentally taken myself out of the lawn mowing business a year or so earlier when I ran into a fence on the riding mower. I panicked and didn't have enough sense to shut off the mower, so the drive chain caught on the chain link fence and ratcheted me up in the air until I was completely perpendicular. Shane had to come out and rescue me. He held the mower in place (and shut it off for me) so I could roll off the side of it. I think it scared Dad a bit, especially when he replaced the second-hand riding mower with an expensive new one. :-)

Anyway, back to General Cinema V. I used to love going upstairs to the projection booth. When the films would be delivered for the week, I would carry them upstairs (they were heavy!) and one time, I helped the projectionist load the film onto the platen. It was a delicate operation and he kept fussing at me not to drop it, since the film was so expensive. But I still snuck up there when I had a chance. I also loved the secret staircase in the back of auditorium 3. It took you to the same place where the other staircase took you (up to the second floor where the projection booth, manager's office, and other supplies were, but it just felt secret. Sometimes I would linger in the staircase hoping to hear good gossip from the manager's office, but I never did.

We had good times, but it started to wear thin after a while, especially after so many of my friends left. My dear friend Cristy was a cashier for a while, and my dear friend Francie was originally in the concession stand and then she came back as Chief of Staff. The fun went out of it and I wanted to move on to what I thought were bigger and better things. I worked there about a year and a half before quitting to go work at Best Products. I've had good jobs since then, but I sometimes long for the simple days at GCC.

The really sad part is that the theater has been closed for a long time. It just sits there, all shuttered and forlorn. I don't think they have torn it down yet. I can look at the picture and remember what it was like in the summer of 1988. That was a magical summer for me in many ways.

Here's a link to a picture from 2003.