The Co-Worker

Nice to meet you

It's somehow five months after I graduated college, given that I chose to pursue an education in the arts it should come to no surprise I would need a stable day job. I have constantly been applying and going into job interviews with no luck, one day I wake up to an email asking if I was still interested in the job at a theater, I had no memory of even applying for the job but I responded by saying yes I was still interested. Given that it is still early on if the pandemic and lockdown the interview was done over a video call. I talked with the general manager where he asked a series of questions I was already used to hearing, though it was still embarrassing to admit that this would technically be my first job since the snack cart from high school was just an occasional side business. After the call it would be two days until I heard back again, this time I was in shock to hear they wanted me to come in for training within the next week, I felt a sense of relief that I'd finally have a reliable source of income. I was so overcome with joy that I finally got a job I told my mom in excitement given how often she'd push me to fine something, though she seemed to not be impressed, which is a given considering I just got a bachelors in entertainment and here I am working for a theater.

Regardless I had gone to the training which was more so a presentation and a walkthrough. I was told to go into one of the theaters where they would start the presentation soon, I sat alone to the side as more people started coming in. One woman in particular sat closer to me, I chose to ignore the notion. Once the presentation started it was made clear that a majority of the people that were in the theater with us were people who have already worked here, some for years, which just left me feeling smaller. The general manager, Steven Brandon, went through several slides and would occasionally ask questions regarding safety protocol, any time he was looking for an answer I'd shrivel in my seat, avoiding speaking in general. The woman near me seemed enthusiastic to answer, she would also be the only one to laugh at Steven's occasional bad jokes. The first impression I got from this woman was that she was a little annoying bootlicker.

When the presentation was over we all stood outside the theater for a moment, that woman was introducing herself to the other workers in a networking sense. For a brief moment I thought to myself I should do the same, however I chose to just take a step back and stay silent as I know my social skills are pretty much non existent, especially when it comes to new people. She had approached me to introduce herself as Rachel Castle, while she did give off a friendly vibe I avoided saying much. All the returning workers had left the theater, leaving only the new members to stick around, which was only Rachel and I. Steven came back to give us a tour of the theater, showing us the codes to certain rooms, giving us a sense of what a typical day would be like, and trying his best to explain how we as a company tend to operate. Meanwhile Rachel was attempting to get me to open up and talk more, as she continued to be a brown nose for Steven. She had mentioned she worked at a theater before and she was mainly looking for a manager role which made all the kissing up make more sense. She did make an attempt to give me some useful tips given that I had mentioned this being my first job, she stuck with the typical, drink water and eat healthy snacks like nuts and granola bars spiel, though it was still appreciated. I had no questions for Steven along when way or even when it was all done with so we said our goodbyes with an understanding the theater would open next week. I left thinking to myself, while the job isn't ideal it does seem simple enough.

When it came to my impression of Rachel, I seen her as a hyper butt kisser, though I did see a semblance of a good person in there. I thought to myself if I only felt that way given how extroverted she was given my church mouse introvert self. From the few memories I have left I recall being a kid alone in my room, sitting on the floor watching the weather channel, the TV guide channel, and the classic tv channel, on there I'd watch old sitcoms, they were an escapism, my only sense of what socializing is like. My mom was hardly every around, she'd work almost daily so I'd only get to see her maybe twice a week. As an adult now I understand she was doing what she could to keep us afloat and I am not upset with her not being there, though I will say I could see that potentially leading to some abandonment issues. Dad was not in the picture and he made it clear he didn't want to be. My family would constantly pick on me, mainly honing in on the fact that I wasn't dating anyone nor was I attempting to date so they would believe I was gay which lead to even more harassment. To this day I haven't had a serious relationship, I've never even kissed anyone before. When I was at school I would just focus on the work, I would only make friends on occasion and they would never really stick around. I haven't even gone out in general for years, first time I went to a party was when I was at college at the age of 19. How is any of this relevant? It isn't really, this is just painting a better picture of my character in all this, how I got to the point I'm at now in life at 23 years old.