by Robert L. Calixto

Created on: January 30, 2008

This article is about "first jobs". Do you remember yours? Did you get fired? I'll admit it if you admit it. You probably did. Ok, I did. But not because I wasn't doing my job.

My very first job was as an usher at the world famous Mann's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California. Yes, that Chinese Theatre! And yes, that Hollywood! I got the job in the summer between my junior and senior year in high school. My friend Jaime got me the job. He started working there just a couple of months before I did. He convinced me to apply after telling me that he escorted Prince to his seat during the Purple Rain premier. Yes, that Prince, and yes, that movie! It was 1984, and I remember it like it was yesterday...

My very first day was a total eye opener. We wore Chinese outfits. The guys wore red jackets with high collars, always zipped-up, black pants, and white, cotton gloves. The ladies wore tight short-sleeved long dresses with Chinese art prints, usually dragons. Their outfits matched our red jackets. Some of the girls wore black instead of red. We all wore what I would definitely call a "uniform bordering on costume".

I remember our salary. Are you ready for this? $3.40 per hour. One of the other ushers used to say: "Do they think we're stupid? That's just five cents above minimum wage! So we can't complain about getting paid minimum wage?" And yes, the manager at the time actually told us: "We pay above minimum wage, not like most theatres!" I didn't care. I was there to meet celebrities like Prince!

I remember the silly meetings. Prior to starting the shift, we always had an "assignment meeting". We would line up by the stairs of the Twin Theatres, where everyone ordering food or going in the theatres would stare at us. Actually, this only happened prior to the evening shift. For the morning and afternoon shift, you just had to look at the assignment wall for your assignment. The assignments included "usher", where you stood by the doors and took tickets and say that famous line "enjoy the show!" Or "sweeper", where you basically walk around the theatre grounds sweeping the floor for trash, usually cigarette butts. Guess which assignment everyone frowned upon? Yes, because everyone would rather stand by the door all night and be "in display".

The "concession people" weren't as cool as the ushers. They were mostly people who got hired without connections, and that's why they had to handle foods! In typical connection-politics fashion, you only got the usher position because

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