Jovers

I’ve been working at the movie theater for about a year and a half now. I don’t talk about it much on here for a couple of different reasons, but mainly because I don’t want to be complaining all the time. For what should be an easy and fun job, it is incredibly frustrating and I’m pretty sure the only reason I’ve stayed there as long as I have is because ~~of the free movies~~ I don’t like change.

The first six months I worked there I actually really enjoyed it. I had a really great group of managers who were both good at their job and good at working with employees. My HR manager was great at making sure I didn’t have too many hours/had enough hours depending on my school schedule and there was never any issue over me going home to St. Louis for breaks.

But he received a better job offer somewhere else and in the next year, we had gone though five new HR managers. And it’s awful. I don’t get consistent hours, I get really crappy shifts, and none of them were ever able to communicate well with employees. My last schedule, half of my days I was scheduled outside of my availability.

At a job like this, the employee turnover rate is extremely high. I’m not sure what the average is, but there are only two other people that still work there when I started. There’s also no room for advancement unless you want to work 60 hour weeks and get fed a bunch of crap if you ever want to take a day off. And for crappy pay. No thanks.

Anyways, I guess what I’m trying to say is I get treated like crap. I’m under-payed, unappreciated, and fed up. I’ve already talked to several supervisors and they’ve communicated how I feel to management and nothing has changed. I am one of the best workers they have and yet people who were just hired get more hours and better shifts than I do. I told my manager I had enough.

So I got a job at a local grocery store and starting there I make more than I do now at the movie theater. One of my really good friends who just quit working at the theater told me about it and told me to apply. I did and I just had orientation yesterday. On Monday I go in for training and I am so excited to not be working as much as the movies!

I would quit, but there’s going to be a bartending position opening there soon, and I wouldn’t have to deal with any of the crap that I have been dealing with if I get that job. I think I will, because there’s no one else of age and they like to hire from within. I would make good tips and think of all the drinks I would learn to make!

I’ve been trying for some internships, but so far nothing has come from any applications… It just really sucks. I haven’t told Andrew because I’m too embarrassed. I’m just going to try working two jobs to make up for it.

“Rise up like the sun, labor till the work is done
One day you’ll leave fearlessness on your sleeve
When you’ve come back, tell me what did you see
Was there something out there for me?”

–“Be Still,” The Killers

In my literary endeavor to read 52 books this year, I’ve made quite a stunning start – if I do say so myself – by having already finished 13 books this year. This means that I’m a fourth of the way done with my goal and am excited to share with you my favorites (so you can read them too!!) and my disappointments (so you can’t say you haven’t been warned).

Favorites:

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin. Both a fictional and historical account on the wife of Anne Morrow, the wife of the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh. I loved this book because of all the historical details weaved in – I felt like I learned just as much about the decades in which they lived as I did about the Lindberghs themselves. A bit heartbreaking, yet very intriguing as you follow Ann through the happy times – their marriage, the birth of their children – and the bad times – their newborn being abducted and murdered, their failing marriage. A great read, and it may be my #1 book of the year so far.
The Girl of Fire & Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson. Another action-packed novel with a strong female protagonist leading them all. In some ways, this seems like an epic, starting so small with a young, naive girl, who then manages to get into more adventures than I can describe. It has a new and realistic spin on romance, while that not being the focus of the series at all. The world-building was fantastic, and it was refreshing to read about the religion that was weaved so intricately into the plot line. Very realistic and very entertaining. I would recommend to any who like fantasy, adventures, monarchs, and romance. It’s got it all, y’all.
The Young Elites by Marie Lu. Having previously read her Legend trilogy (which I loved, by the way), I had to pick up her new fantasy, post-apocalyptic novel and I was not disappointed. The novel follows Adelina (a great name, yes?), a young girl with mysterious powers who is saved and then welcomed into the ranks of a secret society trying to overthrow the government. There’s princes and romance, blackmail and betrayal, swordfights and much, much more. The story felt very original, as did the characters, and I couldn’t read it fast enough. I was rueful when the end came only because now I have to wait until October for the sequel.

Disappointments:

The End by Lemony Snicket. There is nothing I hate more than reading a series of novels and when everything comes to a close, no questions are answered, the end isn’t an end, and you felt like you just wasted your time. The End was a culmination of all of these for the Series of Unfortunate events. The last five or so novels had been tedious for me to get through, but man, I was going to find out what happened to those poor Baudelaires. Well if you’re wondering that too, don’t bother reading The End because even though it’s supposed to be the end, it’s nothing but a cop out.
If I Stay by Gayle Forman. If I’m being fair, this book really shouldn’t be in this category. I actually really liked this book, about a girl who is in a fatal car accident with her family and must make the decision whether or not she will stay on earth or join her family. It was a quick and easy read with fun characters, so the reason I’m putting this in the disappointment category was because of the hype and media surrounding it. I was expecting that when I shut the cover of the novel, I would be left with more. So despite its category on this blog post, I would still recommend it.

These are just my favorites (and not so much) of the year so far. You can view all of the books I’ve read so far here. What books have you read this year?

Labor til the work is done

Reading Recap: Winter 2015