Throughout my life I've been kind of a whore when it comes to jobs. Especially right after High School, I bounced around from job to job, never staying with one partner very long. I've have a plethora of employment opportunities, and I found what I wanted in a job, and that none of these had it!
Kaysville Theatre: April 1999 - April 2000My first job was when I was 15 or 16 and it was at the Kaysville Theatre. I worked at the concession counter and sold tickets. I remember pretending to find damaged boxes of candy, so that we could eat it. I also remember that it was owned by a family, the Calls, and I loathed them. They had an 8 year old son who would constantly pester me and tell me that I had to do what he told me because he was a Call. @^%@$!
Lagoon: May 00 - June 00The most coveted job among under age youth everywhere! At around 18 I decided to take a hand at working at Lagoon for a summer. They put me in retail, to my relief, but it was all I could do to get through training. I ended up quiting 1 week after my training was done, and only made enough to cover the ugly ass uniforms they made us buy.
Mervyn's: June 2000 - August 2000After my month at Lagoon, I got a job at Mervyn's working in the Logistics department. Which basically means that you get to restock clothes and are in the back room all the time. I loved not having to work with customers, but when I worked by myself and things didn't need to be stocked, I had to sit in the back stock rooms all by myself and watch my life pass by.
Delta Center Box Office: September 2000-April 2001This was probably my most fun job. I worked here after my days of school at the University of Utah. I got to see Marie Osmond and some of the Jazz players. It was a fun job and everyone that worked there was pretty nice. I also got first dibs on any seats for any events. I got to walk in on a lot of events as well. This job got me my 8th row Janet Jackson tickets.
Millennium Tanning: April 2001 - May 2001I worked at a place called Millennium Tanning for a month. This was by far the grossest job. It probably wouldn't have been that bad, but we had a gym right next door, and so the sweaty work out people would come over and sweat more all over the beds. YUCK! This also included selling power bars, and washing towels and body wrap bandages. After one of my employees just stopped coming I re-evaluated if this was really my cup of tea.
"Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined." Johnny Carson
Olive Garden: May 2001 - August 2001I decided that I would try my hand at the food industry. It seemed like they made pretty good money, and it had to be better than Lagoon, right? Yeah. Oh, how I loathe thee, let me count the ways . . .
1. The horrible uniforms, the long sleeved white dress shirt, black slacks and official Olive Garden tie.
2. Standing on your feet for 4-5 hours at a time on a tile floor.
3. Having every single person around you, including your supervisor, hate their job and voice it every other customer.
4. Having to stand in the 90 degree heat from the open door, in your long sleeved shirt for 4-5 hours.
The only benefit was the food discount, I still can't eat Fettuccine Alfredo, and all the mints you could eat. The only thing I retained from my time at the Olive Garden, was that you say that their pager will "Shake and Light Up," not vibrate, vibrate sounds dirty. Needless to say, food was not my calling.
Annie's Main Street Floral: August 2001 - November 2001
Right before I got married, I decided that I might try to find a job that I actually liked. I got a job at Annie's Main Street Floral. There were only 3-4 employees, and the shop wasn't run very well. It didn't really seem like they knew what they were doing, and were kind of at a loss at to what to do with me when I was working. My first day I spray painted 300 carnations for a High School. My pointer finger will never be the same. After a couple months, they had to let me go because they were shutting down one of their locations. I remember when my cousin Amber had me do all the flowers for her wedding, when I hadn't had any formal training. I spent all day making corsages and boutonnieres, it was a nightmare.
Xtreme Dance Studio: November 2001 - December 2001After the Flower Shop I was looking for jobs in the paper and found a lady who owned a aerobics/hair/nail studio and was looking for someone to run a dance program. After my year at the U, I figured that this would be perfect. It was a complete hole in the wall place, where I had to do everything myself. Advertising, teaching, book keeping. It proved a little too much for my 19 year old mentality, and I dropped it after a couple months.
Davis School District: January 2002 - April 2002
I needed an easy job, I found it in being a substitute teacher. For those of you who don't know how it works, you call a job line each day you want to work and listen to the jobs that are open. You pick a job and show up, or if there aren't any you like, then you pass. You have to get up at about 5:30 to check to get the good jobs. I enjoyed teaching elementary school because they were all so excited that you weren't 80. The little girls would hang out at recess, and the boys would write you notes, it was cute!
High School wasn't too bad, just monotonous. They would usually give you movies or tests, and you would just do them over and over for 8 hours. I did like to explore the schools on my free period. I usually just brought a coloring book on High School days.
Middle School is HELL! I taught one day, a couple different courses all for the same teacher. I ended up sending 2 kids to the principals office, cursing at a couple and vowing that I would never teach Middle School again.
Substitute teaching was fun, but I knew it wasn't a life long career.
Marriott Vacation Club: April 2002 - Present
My sister-in-law Aly had started a job at Marriott Rewards, and when we found out how much she was making Nick and I both applied. Nick got into Marriott Rewards, but my grandma's funeral postponed me being able to start and so I got into MVCI, which was actually more money.
I took phone calls from people booking their timeshare for about 8 months and then I transferred to another department that dealt with scheduling. I was there for about 1 1/2 years, and then I got the job I have now, Recognition Team Leader.
My job is to make our associates feel appreciated and recognized. I think it's fair to say that almost everyone at work wants my job, and think that it's a piece of cake. Let me tell you, that creating events that will make 450 people happy, and trying to rearrange your entire day of events 1 day before hand because you just found out it's going to rain, is not easy. It's definitely my most challenging job, but the one that I've enjoyed the most. I've learned so many new things; how to do henna tattoos, origami, calligraphy and a lot of design. I've learned that some people are never happy. I've learned that you always buy extra. I've learned that you are never fully prepared. I've learned that you can never have too much help. I've learned to delegate. I've learned that nothing is better than feeling that you're appreciated. So I'm happy for my job and will be here for awhile.
"Think enthusiastically about everything; but especially about your job. If you do, you'll put a touch of glory in your life. If you love your job with enthusiasm, you'll shake it to pieces. You'll love it into greatness." Norman Vincent Peale
Wednesday was our 1920's Hollywood day. We had Karaoke, a huge buffet, movie games and a Stunt Double Obstacle Course. Here is part of the room for the Hollywood day, that's film hanging from the ceiling.
