Work Stories: Episode 5: It's All About the Money

Previously on Work Stories, I talked about the time that a coworker screamed so loud that it could be heard across the street.  I assume that nobody cared about it because it isn’t something that I would care about if I weren’t there when it happened.  Either way, I wrote about that.  Now I’m back to write about another something that happened while I was at work.

What to go with.  What should I go with?  Oh I’ve got it.  Wait...no I don’t.  I’m thinking of something to write about.  Here we go!  I’ve got one for you!

This story comes from while I was working at the hotel.  One of my jobs there was as the parking lot attendant.  This involved taking money from people who weren’t staying at the hotel so that they could park there.  I also counted up the money at the end of the day and deposited it into my boss’s safe.

The little tidbit I’m going to talk about all happened on one of those days while I was counting the money.  I was in the boss’s office while I was doing that, so as to not be disturbed.  Since this is a border city that relies on tourism from both Canada and the United States of America, I have to count both Canadian and American bills.  This takes time.

While I was counting my money, my boss comes in.  By the boss, I mean one of the owners of the hotel.  This isn’t a Hilton, or a Marriot.  This is a privately owned hotel.  The owners are always in and out.  The only way I know how to describe this owner is that she was an old woman who wore lots of makeup, dresses, and she creeped me out a lot.  I might compare her to a Miss Havisham type of woman.

As I was counting the money, she was asking me small talk questions.  I don’t remember the questions, and to be completely honest, what they were do not affect this tale in any way whatsoever.  All you need to know is that at the end of the talking, she told me to give her the money instead of depositing it into the safe.

When I handed her the money, she took out a ten dollar bill.  Not only was it a ten dollar bill, it was an American ten dollar bill.  She looks at me and says “You’re a good worker.  Here’s ten dollars.  Go see a movie.  Something good, like Journey to the Center of the Earth.”  I took the money, thanked her, and I left.

Now, what I want to direct your attention to is that she specified a movie for me to go see.  She wanted me to have the money to go see Journey to the Center of the Earth.  This is not a movie that I wanted to see in theaters.  I obviously spend the money on something else.  But I always find it funny that the specific movie that she wanted me to see was that one.  It seems like such an odd movie to tell an 18 year old to go see.  It just stuck with me.

That’s the story for this week.  It wasn’t an epic tale of woe and misery or anything.  This story isn’t going to be winning any awards.  It’s just here for you to learn a little bit more about me.  It’s part of the building blocks that make me.  Now you know it.  And there is still more that you don’t know.