Sunday, March 09, 2008

Jobs I've Had

There just hasn't been much to write about lately so I will regale you with the various jobs I've had over the years. I got the idea to do this from another blog so blame them. Here we go!

Stock Boy at Winn Dixie - This was the first job I ever had and I was fired after 2 weeks. Why? I don't know but the managers nephew was working there the next day. Go figure. I hated it anyway.

Print Studio Assistant - While I was at the Memphis College of Art I did a work/study by assisting in the printmaking studio. I manned the studio a couple of nights a week and I also assisted during the basic printmaking class. Most nights there wasn't much to do. The students at that college had a non-existent work ethic. I showed up the first day of class with all my stuff ready to work. They all told me, "We don't do anything on the first day." I said, "I do." Needless to say I wasn't very popular. The printmaking teacher hated me. I got called into the office once for having a bad attitude. (can they do that in college?) I left after the first semester.

Screen Printer - Perfect job for an artist, right? Wrong! The boss was a nice guy but not a good businessman. That place nearly went under about twice a week. I'll never forget the time we were there all night printing thousands of shirts for Hooters on one manual press. Ahhh! I can't believe I worked there for 2 years. I heard he sold the place after I left.

Performer - While at seminary I performed with The Company, a touring drama team. During the year it was only for school credit but during the summer it was paid. After graduation I spent a year with Face to Face, a touring drama team based out of Birmingham, AL.

Minister of Youth - My first church staff job out of seminary I was lucky enough to land a great gig working with a super pastor. Unfortunately the honeymoon ended quickly. The pastor (a wonderful guy!) lost his wife and remarried a woman who was divorced (because her husband was a pastor and cheated on her with his secretary). The church had a conniption about that and he eventually left. After he left they started picking on me so I got the hell out of dodge. Too bad. It was a nice church with a lot of potential. Too bad they let a few bad apples run the joint.

Minster of Arts and Worship - I joined up with this new church start and morphed into the job over a bit of time. It was fun for a while but turned sour toward the end. I was "let go" and my ministry days were over. There's just too much shit you have to put up with when you work for a church.

Manager of Shipping/Receiving - I did this job in Asheville just before moving to Seattle. Sarah and I both landed jobs at A. C. Moore, a craft store on the east coast that I wish we had out here. We worked with a bunch of really cool people. The pay was crap with no benefits but it was fun while it lasted. I hear the company changed hands and now it's not so fun to work there. Alot of folks we knew left.

Custodian - I've done this job alot. I first started doing it at my home church in Pensacola. It was a good flexible job to have and go to college at the same time. The bad part of that job was seeing behind the scenes at church. I saw some ugly stuff.
I did a short gig at a security place in Tallahassee. I used to have to drive out into the country and cut the owner's (a past president of FSU) grass with a tractor. I hated it.
While at seminary I also did the custodian thing. Great low stress job for a stressful place. I worked with some cool guys there. We used to play cards everyday on break. One summer we had a paper plane flying contest in the Williamsburg Room. We were pretty irreverent.
Presently I am a custodian at Taproot Theatre. I am pretty much left alone to do my job which I do wired up to my iPod. The pay and benefits are awesome for a part-time gig and I have time to work on my art when I get home.

That's all I can think of right now. Hopefully I'll think of something brilliant to write about over the next few days so we can dispatch this kind of crap for good.

No comments: