Every time you write a problem in the log book or fix a projector... just doing your job, in general... you are "raising the bar" on them, so to speak. They don't want to do it. They want to stand around, tell jokes and read the newspaper, etc. Instead of doing the things they are supposed to be getting PAID to do they would rather complain about it.

I used to get a lot of that too. People would say a lot of the same things to me. My answer was, "I'm not a slacker like most people."

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Or those dumb questions: "So, do you take the movies home to watch sometimes?" -- Yep, but they never seem to fit in my VCR. Just like with any job, there are some people that take it seriously and do well, while for others, it's just a way to get some spending money and that's all they care about. There should be more people like you.

When I told one of my previous managers that they weren't allowed to smoke in the booth bathroom, I was also told I "Need to relax." - The corporate office didn't think I needed to relax.

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When I left he replaced me ($14.00/hour) with 3 (count them)
$9.00 per hour workers.

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Your professionalism and expertise and most importantly, your PASSION, is really a collaboration between you and the filmmakers - the director and all the artist and crafts people who pooled their talents to make a film. This film, even if it is a bad one, deserves quality a presentation. You are the link across a metaphysical expanse between what happened on the very first day of shooting when the director pointed a camera lens at a scene on a back lot, and what will happen in a darkened theatre as you ply your craft and project that scene through your projector lens. All the creative talent and emotional energy of all those people listed in the credit crawl is distilled onto a strip of celluloid and it is handed to you to make it come alive for hundreds and hundreds of people in the audience. It is truly amazing when you think about it. You either do it in a way that makes a seamless connection between them or you can ruin it. It's a real responsibility on your shoulders to both the filmmakers and the audience. And doing it perfectly is a rewarding satisfaction that borders on the spiritual. THAT's what you will have and what your imbecile coworkers never will.

I run lots of retrospective films -- great films, which many times are older than I am. Lots of times the people in those films have been dead for many years. Yet, their performances are captured on a seemingly insignificant strip of film. But because of my dedication to my craft, I stand next to machine that I almost become one with, and with a light making flickering shadows on my face, I bring those actors back to life, to perform again, beautiful, young and in their prime, exactly as they did 50, 60 years ago. I am a time-traveler with my reel of film, able to make a beautiful 22 year old Audrey Hepburn once again lip-sync to Marnie Nixon's vocal track, reproducing that moment on the set decades ago when, maybe after the 15th take, when it finally all came together. Ken, this is incredible magic, and you, my boy, are the magician!

Somebody stop me.

Frank

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