I don't know how I feel about my job.
Pull out the popcorn, this is a long story.
All companies and cities are initialled to protect my identity.
It all started when my mum was 17. And managing her own video shop. That's how she met my dad. They both worked in the same shop. A few years later, I was conceived, they were married, and it looked like they were going to find real jobs.
But then dad became manager at a new video shop. A C. And mum spent the first few years of my life raising me. But it soon got to the point where mum wanted a job of her own.
This was about the time V.E, a rival chain, were opening up near our house. Mum applied. Mum became a senior, and that's when the oddities resumed.
I was probably 12 when mum first started putting my sister and I to use. She'd started on night shifts, and we had to stay at the shop after school until dad picked us up. She let my sister and I put videos away. And it was about this time where shops were experimenting with a new and foreign medium, known only as 'DVD'. I was only doing it for mum. And to keep myself amused, for it was at this point in my young life I'd decieded I wanted to be an author. And vowed to never follow in my parents footsteps. Why? I was rebelling in my own special, retarded way.
And yet 2 years on, I never expected to be in that backroom, having an interview with my mum's manager. Soon to be my own manager. The interview was a snap. I knew s**t. She knew me well. It was kind of a sure thing, considering I was the only one at the interview. But at the same time I felt defeated. I'd let myself down. I'd always sworn that I'd never go down 'that' path. I didn't want to be trapped in my parents situation. In a job I didn't quite find my cup of tea.
But enough about that.
The current situation? My father finally decided to buy half of C from the current owners. And mum decieded to buy it with him. Her boss wasn't so happy about that, and she resigned as a result. My parents own C. I still work at V.E. My sister even cleans shelves for my parents. Every time I hear about it, it sounds like a bizarrely happy heaven. From a worker point of view. The location itself is shitty. My city of Ip is like the ghetto of my half of Queensland. And the suburb G, where the shop is, is the ghetto of Ip.
Put it this way. There was a machete fight outside of my parents shop. One of the guys involved tried to hide in the shop. ninja
But yeah, I don't know how I feel about my job. I live in fear of the telephone, in case they're calling me in to fill in a shift that's not mine. I don't really like dealing with customers. But when I actually get there, after a while it's kind of fine. I slip into "Polite, happy go lucky" mode, I like being able to make everything organised. So it's double sided.
But I think I've found a way out, thanks to a friend of mine. A bit of a colleague, that I met on the BYTE Awards workshop last year (more on that later). Dale his name is, man just out of high school and into the design industry. Long story short, he plans to start his own design company shortly.
And he's promised me a share on the occasional contract that comes through.
Basically, for those who don't know, I'm a Flash animator among most trades. So he wants to pay me for my animating skills. Booyah.
Perhaps I can get out of the video industry after all.
witcheemon Community Member 
|
|
