My first day of summer work
May. 10th, 2004 11:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaalaYes... I'm embarrassed to admit: this is the first real summer job I've ever managed to land. (Aside from that job as a studio music teacher when my predecessor returned after one week.)
The first day of Fort Henry orientation was, uh, boring. Most of it was spent filling out forms and watching videos and lectures about policy and laws. We covered human rights legislation, discrimination and harrassment policy, workplace safety legislation, and procedures for dealing with hazardous materials[1]. One presenter appeared unable to string together coherent and grammatically correct sentences. It was boring and frustrating, but I was glad such issues were addressed and frankly wished that more people would pay attention. Besides, I had fun making snide comments to my neighbours. Occasionally we took five-minute breaks to play silly team building activities. (e.g. Arrange yourselves by shoe size without talking!!)
The atmosphere was... testosterone-laden. Not that long ago, this was an almost exclusively male club and you can tell. Even though the crowd was at least 20% female, machismo was pretty pervasive[2]. That's not to say people weren't nice--though I tended to get overlooked, when they did notice me they were nice. Most people are quite extroverted, not surprisingly since we are working in the tourism industry. There are many obvious partiers in the group. Heck, employees are given free passes to a downtown club. I'm pretty sure I'll always be an outsider in that respect at least. (We were also given passes that, as I understand it, grant us free admission to the Fort for a guest. Woo!)
One got the sense that these people are a community unto themselves. It felt a bit like I'd joined a cult. An exclusive cult, apparently: we were informed that 300+ applications were received for approximately 30 positions. At the end of the day, the rookies were asked to stand and the rest gave us a round of applause.
I'm impressed with myself for not only waking up at 6 a.m. (...roughly) but also making it to the hotel twenty minutes early. I was so panicked that I might be late that it took me five minutes to bicycle a distance that usually takes fifteen. My morning routine will be shortened somewhat, I hope, once I've gotten a haircut. My hair will soon be very very short. I can't be bothered with the elaborate tucked-under-the-hat updo undertaken by many girls; I hate both hairspray and fine-toothed combs with a passion. More precisely, I hate washing out hairspray with a passion.
[1] The job involves rifles, cannons, gunpowder, shoe polish, and copious amounts of corrosive brass polish.
[2] Military machismo, that is. Everyone introduced themselves by first name, only to be informed that those names will never be used again. From now on I am Private [my surname] or, off the parade square, [my surname]. What a pity it's such an unpronouncable name. I'll end up being yelled at by someone and won't even notice.
* * *
Other recent events:
1) A really very good amateur production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in a tiny little box theatre. (I swear the actors could see every audience member clearly.) My only real complaint is that Guildenstern (I think it was) spoke too quickly and with rather sloppy enunciation so that considerable chunks of his grand flights of logic in the first act were unintelligible. Rosencrantz was played very much for laughs (a buffoonish personality) and had a tendency to steal the spotlight, but the character was so cute, lovable, sympathetic, and ultimately poignant that it worked. One improvised highlight:
[a weird 2"-3" crawly thing suddenly scuttles across the stage]
Rosencrantz [in character, terrified]: Big bug! *stamp* *splat*
2) I bought the Arrogant Worms' latest CD, Toast!. It's a bit like Live Bait (i.e. very energetic, recorded live with additional musicians) but all the songs are new. I love it to death and have listened to it all the way through no less than three times. Trevor's songs come off particularly well on this album, IMHO.
3) I saw Deirdre dance in the last ballet school performance I'll ever see. I tried to take my digital camera (with 1 minute video capability) into the auditorium but lost my nerve at the last minute when I saw the signs prohibiting videotaping... and instantly regretted it because there were a legion of camcorders in there.
(The family photo curse lifted briefly: my sister's picture finally appeared in the school newsletter. That's her in the black costume (dress) in the photo in the lower left-hand corner.)
The first day of Fort Henry orientation was, uh, boring. Most of it was spent filling out forms and watching videos and lectures about policy and laws. We covered human rights legislation, discrimination and harrassment policy, workplace safety legislation, and procedures for dealing with hazardous materials[1]. One presenter appeared unable to string together coherent and grammatically correct sentences. It was boring and frustrating, but I was glad such issues were addressed and frankly wished that more people would pay attention. Besides, I had fun making snide comments to my neighbours. Occasionally we took five-minute breaks to play silly team building activities. (e.g. Arrange yourselves by shoe size without talking!!)
The atmosphere was... testosterone-laden. Not that long ago, this was an almost exclusively male club and you can tell. Even though the crowd was at least 20% female, machismo was pretty pervasive[2]. That's not to say people weren't nice--though I tended to get overlooked, when they did notice me they were nice. Most people are quite extroverted, not surprisingly since we are working in the tourism industry. There are many obvious partiers in the group. Heck, employees are given free passes to a downtown club. I'm pretty sure I'll always be an outsider in that respect at least. (We were also given passes that, as I understand it, grant us free admission to the Fort for a guest. Woo!)
One got the sense that these people are a community unto themselves. It felt a bit like I'd joined a cult. An exclusive cult, apparently: we were informed that 300+ applications were received for approximately 30 positions. At the end of the day, the rookies were asked to stand and the rest gave us a round of applause.
I'm impressed with myself for not only waking up at 6 a.m. (...roughly) but also making it to the hotel twenty minutes early. I was so panicked that I might be late that it took me five minutes to bicycle a distance that usually takes fifteen. My morning routine will be shortened somewhat, I hope, once I've gotten a haircut. My hair will soon be very very short. I can't be bothered with the elaborate tucked-under-the-hat updo undertaken by many girls; I hate both hairspray and fine-toothed combs with a passion. More precisely, I hate washing out hairspray with a passion.
[1] The job involves rifles, cannons, gunpowder, shoe polish, and copious amounts of corrosive brass polish.
[2] Military machismo, that is. Everyone introduced themselves by first name, only to be informed that those names will never be used again. From now on I am Private [my surname] or, off the parade square, [my surname]. What a pity it's such an unpronouncable name. I'll end up being yelled at by someone and won't even notice.
* * *
Other recent events:
1) A really very good amateur production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in a tiny little box theatre. (I swear the actors could see every audience member clearly.) My only real complaint is that Guildenstern (I think it was) spoke too quickly and with rather sloppy enunciation so that considerable chunks of his grand flights of logic in the first act were unintelligible. Rosencrantz was played very much for laughs (a buffoonish personality) and had a tendency to steal the spotlight, but the character was so cute, lovable, sympathetic, and ultimately poignant that it worked. One improvised highlight:
[a weird 2"-3" crawly thing suddenly scuttles across the stage]
Rosencrantz [in character, terrified]: Big bug! *stamp* *splat*
2) I bought the Arrogant Worms' latest CD, Toast!. It's a bit like Live Bait (i.e. very energetic, recorded live with additional musicians) but all the songs are new. I love it to death and have listened to it all the way through no less than three times. Trevor's songs come off particularly well on this album, IMHO.
3) I saw Deirdre dance in the last ballet school performance I'll ever see. I tried to take my digital camera (with 1 minute video capability) into the auditorium but lost my nerve at the last minute when I saw the signs prohibiting videotaping... and instantly regretted it because there were a legion of camcorders in there.
(The family photo curse lifted briefly: my sister's picture finally appeared in the school newsletter. That's her in the black costume (dress) in the photo in the lower left-hand corner.)
