As the end of another year approaches and the winter gets even closer it's easy to look back at the plans that didn't work out and the projects that have yet to be done, but this year I 'm going to try something different. I'm going to bask in my successes, as small, silly and completely insignificant to others as they may be.
Recently, through the help of my wife changing her work schedule a bit in order to be able to concentrate on our business I fulfilled a desire do something I have wanted to try for YEARS. Swimming with sharks? Nope. Skydiving? Nah. If a plane is doing okay I'll just stay inside of it. Wrestling alligators? Wouldn't be fair to the alligators. No, the thing I have wanted to do for years is work in a Halloween store. I love Halloween. October is easily my favorite month of the year. The weather has been good in every state I have ever lived in during October. The colors are great and people like to be spooky. It's the real start to the Holiday Season. The opening act to the fun the rest of the country seems to get all excited about. But, I'm usually pretty busy this time of year. Especially recently it's the wind down, but not the end of my hospitality work and since people are in the mood it's generally a good time to rally the troops and film something scary.
But this year my wife was willing to handle the hospitality stuff and I decided to try for a nice, part time, temporary retail job. I hadn't worked retail in decades. That's not entirely true, of course, since my self distribution has seen me selling DVDs and merchandise online and at shows, but store front retail is different. It hasn't changed much except for the credit card scanners and laser bar code reading, but the "part time" thing didn't work out. Circumstances had me get hired on as an assistant manager, which turned into an odd 50 - 60 hour week covering shifts. In the end, it was mostly the fun I anticipated, but there were some drawbacks. I was still handling some of the hospitality stuff. Staying "on call" and handling emails on my breaks or when at home. I was pretty much tired all of the time, so less editing and shooting got done than I would have liked and my decorations didn't get the full treatment they usually do. I missed almost all of the trick or treaters on the actual night of Halloween. On the plus side, the discount came in handy, I scored some cool props by know where they were and getting to work early the day after Halloween before my shift ( you see two of them in "Strange Gifts" and another is in a short we shot "X-24". The job helped lead to our "shoot of opportunity" short film, which we hope to be able to show at festivals in 2018 and I met a few cool people. Even though I didn't get to celebrate Halloween in the way I usually do, I did get to see it from a whole lot of different perspectives through the people I helped get decorations and costumes that month and that was pretty cool. Plus, retail work always gives you a few stories to tell at a party.
Would I do it again? I honestly don't see me having the time any time soon. The time of year they really want people to start is right when I am in the busiest season at my other jobs. If someone hadn't quit this year I probably never would have gotten the opportunity.
I am glad I did it. Even though during the first week all I wanted was for it to be over. Looking back it was a good experience. And I think that's how a lot of years go. Some are treacherously bad, I won't deny that. But most, how good or bad they were, all depends on what kind of lens we look back at them through.
Recently, through the help of my wife changing her work schedule a bit in order to be able to concentrate on our business I fulfilled a desire do something I have wanted to try for YEARS. Swimming with sharks? Nope. Skydiving? Nah. If a plane is doing okay I'll just stay inside of it. Wrestling alligators? Wouldn't be fair to the alligators. No, the thing I have wanted to do for years is work in a Halloween store. I love Halloween. October is easily my favorite month of the year. The weather has been good in every state I have ever lived in during October. The colors are great and people like to be spooky. It's the real start to the Holiday Season. The opening act to the fun the rest of the country seems to get all excited about. But, I'm usually pretty busy this time of year. Especially recently it's the wind down, but not the end of my hospitality work and since people are in the mood it's generally a good time to rally the troops and film something scary.
But this year my wife was willing to handle the hospitality stuff and I decided to try for a nice, part time, temporary retail job. I hadn't worked retail in decades. That's not entirely true, of course, since my self distribution has seen me selling DVDs and merchandise online and at shows, but store front retail is different. It hasn't changed much except for the credit card scanners and laser bar code reading, but the "part time" thing didn't work out. Circumstances had me get hired on as an assistant manager, which turned into an odd 50 - 60 hour week covering shifts. In the end, it was mostly the fun I anticipated, but there were some drawbacks. I was still handling some of the hospitality stuff. Staying "on call" and handling emails on my breaks or when at home. I was pretty much tired all of the time, so less editing and shooting got done than I would have liked and my decorations didn't get the full treatment they usually do. I missed almost all of the trick or treaters on the actual night of Halloween. On the plus side, the discount came in handy, I scored some cool props by know where they were and getting to work early the day after Halloween before my shift ( you see two of them in "Strange Gifts" and another is in a short we shot "X-24". The job helped lead to our "shoot of opportunity" short film, which we hope to be able to show at festivals in 2018 and I met a few cool people. Even though I didn't get to celebrate Halloween in the way I usually do, I did get to see it from a whole lot of different perspectives through the people I helped get decorations and costumes that month and that was pretty cool. Plus, retail work always gives you a few stories to tell at a party.
Would I do it again? I honestly don't see me having the time any time soon. The time of year they really want people to start is right when I am in the busiest season at my other jobs. If someone hadn't quit this year I probably never would have gotten the opportunity.
I am glad I did it. Even though during the first week all I wanted was for it to be over. Looking back it was a good experience. And I think that's how a lot of years go. Some are treacherously bad, I won't deny that. But most, how good or bad they were, all depends on what kind of lens we look back at them through.
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