Work was crazy busy today. I got to the mall at 11 (half an hour before my shift started), and a lot of the stores were already open, and tons of people were milling around. This really worried me. I was beginning to get the sneaking suspicion that my watch was an hour slow, and it was really noon, and I was late for work and going to get in trouble. This suspicion niggled and nagged at me as I approached the theatre. It reached critical mass when I saw the hugest freaking line up of people, all the way down a flight of stairs and past Playdium. They were pushing and jostling, and were excitedly chattering. Fuuuuuuuuuuck, I thought, as I took the elevator up stairs. What the hell is going on up in the theatre?
Three words: Harry Potter madness. There was a special advance screening for the media and business bigwigs and their families going on in four of the cinemas. Of course, everyone wanted popcorn. I was thrust onto a till, and forced to fend for myself. It was pretty cool, though, I served one of the sports guys from the 6 o'clock news, and a few newspaper reporters. After the rush, I wanted to collapse in the break room. However, one of the girls insisted I go with her to sneak into the back of one of the cinemas and watch 20 minutes of Harry Potter.
It looks like a really brilliant movie, and I can't wait until I can get a pass for it. The free passes are really great. Last night I saw "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (everyone go see this, even though it's rated G, it is the funniest movie I have seen this year), and maybe on Wednesday I'm going to see "The Ring" or "Punch Drunk Love."
Arrrrrrrrrrgh. I have tinny video game music (reminiscent of early Nintendo games) stuck in my head. The snack bar is right beside "Techtown" (a mini-arcade inside the theatre), so when there are very few customers, I can hear plinking little ditties coming from about 6 different games.
I made $5 commission yesterday, because I made $900 in sales. I think the commission rate is 2% on any money above the $700 goal. Whatever. All I know is that my persuasive selling ("Would you like to try the Harry Potter Combo?" or "Would you like a drink [or popcorn, or candy bar, or whatever] with that?") is working for me. I was on a slow till near the end of the snack bar, during a relatively slow period, too. I feel really proud of myself, because I know that once I get better, I'll make quite a bit of money. Too bad I have to persuade people to part with their own, because I know how hard it is to earn.
One thing I don't understand is the amount of money people are willing to spend at the theatre. Let's say a young couple comes in. Tickets for both to see the movie comes to $27. Then they proceed to order ridiculous amounts at the snack bar. I've actually had teenage couples come to my till and order $40 (or more!) worth of snacks. $40! That's like a week's worth of groceries for me! That could be 2 dinners for 2 people out at a moderately priced restaraunt! When you add that to the tickets, that's almost $70. At minimum wage, that's 8 or 9 hours of work. Thinking about those prices drives me crazy. It makes me happy that I get into movies for free, and am smart enough not to buy from the snack bar and prefer to take Josh out for a decent meal than to stuff him full of exorbinantly priced popcorn.