A real job

Earlier today (or I suppose yesterday at this point), a friend texted me to check up on me.  I filled him in on the new job.  His immediate response was to tell me to hang in there, I'll find something eventually.

With many of my friends and family (but to the credit of some... not all), there is a theme of keep looking for a real job.

Ladies and gentlemen, I assure you that this is a real job.  It's hard work and physically demanding.  I don't know about you, but when I go to the movies I consider it a treat for myself.  I assume our customers feel the same way.   They pay a premium for the tickets, the food and the beer.  And if my co-workers and I don't get the job done, their special experience is less special.

I suppose this notion that it is not a real job is based on the fact that it doesn't pay very much.  I'm sure the franchise owner is doing fine.  There is no doubt that the movie studios are making plenty of money.  But the last line of defense that makes sure that going to movies is still a magical experience makes slightly more than minimum wage.

Some would argue that these jobs are for kids, they don't need but so much money.  Many of these kids are in college of some sort and this how they pay for it.  More than a couple have earned degrees, but this is what is available until they can break into their respective fields.

There was a time, in my lifetime, that a person could earn a living wage doing this kind of work.  It is a damn shame that this is how it works now.

But hey, the world is what it is.  Put my leftist notions aside for the time being.

The question remains, am I going to look for a real job?

Between you and me, not for a bit.  I looked.  For a fucking year.  I am confident that I can land an interview with a little effort.  Then I can go on that interview.  I will either feel I am making a connection or not.  But even when I make a connection, they decide to move in a different direction. There are so many qualified people looking for jobs that hiring managers are simply overwhelmed by the choices.  And there are enough things about my work experience that are not traditional, that it is easy to rule me out.  Besides, to the hiring manager, the fact that no one else wanted to hire me for over a year is a red flag.

Interviewing is nerve wracking.  I'm guessing that it causes anxiety in everyone.  For those of us that have issues with anxiety it is a special kind of hell.

I suppose that I will look for a real job again at some point.  But for now, I need a break.  I simply can't ride that roller coaster any more right now.

I've been asked many times, often in interviews, what matters to me in a job?  The answer is, always, I want to make a difference.  I want to contribute.  I want to be useful.  (I dress the answer up to suit the interviewer, but you get the idea.)  Right now, I make a difference, I contribute and I am useful.

I just finished an 11 hour shift.  I could have left earlier, but they needed as many hands as they could get.  (Insider tip, the Bohemian Rhapsody movie is very popular, and the bits I saw looked good.)   I made a difference.  I helped make someone's (or several someone's) movie experience awesome.  I made life easier for my coworkers.  And of course, I got extra hours.  Which is money in my pocket.

It may not pay well, but I can accomplish something doing this job.  And in a lot of ways that is so much better that spinning wheels talking to people who will ultimately choose to hire someone with more traditional experience.

Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to be a food runner for the rest of my life.  But I'm not convinced that I will get back to where I was (or even close) in my previous industry.  I suspect that I need to re-invent myself yet again.  And while I figure that out. I can't think of a better job to be doing.