I remember it as if it happened yesterday which is funny since sometimes I can't recall what I had for lunch by dinner time. It was my big day, I was starting my first job as an usher at the United Artists Theater in downtown Chicago. I walked in and soon was decked out in black pants, white cardboard shirt front and collar and a red jacket. This was the uniform that I would be wearing on most days of the week for the next three years. That first day I was broken in correctly. Here is the story, which is taken from my autobiography, Glimpses of God, which is available at the website you will see below.
With the grand
tour and my training complete, total time about thirty minutes, I was assigned
to aisle three where my job would be to open the door for anyone who wanted go
into the auditorium or to come out, labor that was not exactly rocket
science. I noticed that Hector had been
on the phone making a few calls and I certainly didn’t think too much about it
because after all I was the low man and he was the mighty Chief of
Service. After he made a couple of calls
he called me over and told me that he had an important assignment for me. I remember thinking that he really must like
me because here I was on my first day and I was already receiving an important
assignment from the Chief of Service. He
told me that the projectionists needed the film stretcher and that it was at
the State Lake Theater and he wanted me to go there to get it. He said it was an expensive piece of
equipment and the downtown B and K theaters only had one that they had to
share. So dressed in my bright red
blazer I was dispatched to the State Lake.
When I arrived at
the State Lake Theater which oddly enough was on the corner of State and Lake
in downtown Chicago, their Chief of Service asked me what I wanted and I told
him that Hector told me to pick up the film stretcher. He said that they didn’t have it, that they
had sent it to the Roosevelt Theater just a couple of blocks south. So, off to the Roosevelt Theater I went
determined to impress my new liege lord with my ability to get the job
done. When I arrived at the Roosevelt
the Chief of Service there said that they had it up to about an hour ago and
that they had sent it back to the Chicago Theater which was right across the
street from the State Lake. He also said
that Hector had called looking for me concerned that I was taking so long in
getting a simple job done. I thanked
the Roosevelt’s Chief and turned on my heel and rapidly retraced my steps to
the north.
I went to the front of the Chicago Theater and
spoke to the Chief of Service and he said that they had the film stretcher and
then he told me to come around to the side door. I turned around and walked the long half
block to the side entrance where the Chief of Service met me and we took the
elevator up three floors and there outside the projectionist’s booth was a
large sealed box that had a very strong chemical smell emitting from it. He told me to pick it up and I did so, it
must have weighed forty pounds. He told
me to be careful not to tip it so that the chemicals did not leak out as they
could burn skin. I followed him to the
elevator and he shook his head stating that because of all of the chemical fumes
the thing was not allowed in the elevator and he pointed to the stairs. He then told me to hurry and get it to the UA
because Hector had called looking for me.
I started walking down the stairs and tried to keep the box from tipping
but whatever this film stretcher was, it was packed off center and the box was
unwieldy to carry but I managed to get it down the stairs without tipping
it. When I got to the first floor the
Chief was there with a clipboard and he told me I had to sign for the film
stretcher. I carefully put the box down
on the ground and signed a form that he put in front of me. Then I bent down and picked up the heavy box
and as I did so it tipped a little and he again cautioned me to be very careful
because if the chemicals leaked on me, I could be burned.
The box really stunk of chemicals so I
believed that I was in mortal peril. I
left the Chicago Theater and started making my way to the UA. My arms were burning with pain because the
box was very heavy and very clumsy to carry.
Then I felt some wetness hit my arm, no pain but I realized that I must
have spilled some of the chemicals out of the film stretcher. I started to walk faster. It was hot that night and the box kept
dripping on my hands and arms. The
closer that I got to the UA the more of the caustic chemicals were leaking onto
my arms. I was scared! Finally I got the box to the UA and almost
ran into the lobby and told Hector that I had spilled some of the chemicals on
my arm, the whole box seemed to be soaked with chemicals now. He looked at me and said that he hoped that I
wasn’t burned too badly. Then he burst
out laughing along with everyone else on the floor. He told me to put down the box. He opened it and what was inside? I saw about forty pounds of ice chips with a
little bit of spray paint on the top layer of ice to impart the alarming
aroma. Now I was initiated, now I was
one of them, fit to work as a paid usher at the proud B and K theater chain.
Here is my website - go there to see some pictures and more facts about this boomer boy from Chicago!
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