My head is spinning
Dear Constant Reader,
This is my only outlet with which to express my anger and aggravation, and since it’s been building up for quite a while I think it’s time for a little ventilation. When I say this is my only outlet, it’s really not, but it seems that when I try to complain about things to people they get angry with me and say that all I’m doing is whining. Those people are probably right, and if they read this I don’t want them to take offense at me saying that. I just need some way to get all this out because I feel that if I don’t I’m going to do something rash.
I’m so fed up with work, and when I say work, I don’t mean my actual job. I mean the way the people at the Myrtle Beach castle treat their employees. This time last year I was struggling as well and that ended up with me moving back to my mom and dad’s house and teaching and hating every minute of it and STILL being broke. It’s come full circle, and I, like always, have the option to move home, but the difference between last year and this year is the fact that I don’t want to go home. I really feel that this is my home, and it honestly has been for the past five years.
The people in management at the castle…well, I don’t know how to describe them. Perhaps it’s the corporation itself, perhaps it’s just this castle, but they refuse to give anyone hours. And when I say anyone I mean anyone but the knights. They’re allowed to come in and pussyfoot around until late in the evening…sure, they ride horses and practice fights, but when they fight its only two or three at a time while the rest of them are standing on the wall of the arena talking about everything BUT work, and then after they practice for a couple of hours they spend the rest of their time throwing darts, walking around, or honestly just sitting. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with that…I believe that if you can get paid for doing very little work, go for it! But when they can do it while the cast gets scrutinized for every hour they make, it seems a little unfair. I realize that the knights work hard, ESPECIALLY in the summer, and that the castle should take care of them and repay their efforts in the winter by turning a blind eye to their shenanigans, but what about the cast…? I mean, yeah, some of the cast don’t really need a whole lot of hours, like George the king, for instance, who works there just as a hobby, but what about me and Rob and Morgan and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, Gina? Rob and I have college degrees in what we’re doing. That’s right…college fucking degrees. I dare not mention that at work for fear of getting bitched out by everyone who doesn’t have one and say that just because we have degrees doesn’t mean that we deserve more hours than we’re getting. They think we do no work and just ride the clock. Well, our work may not be gladiatorial like the knight’s work, but it’s just as hard. We have to memorize lines, stall for time, improvise, make things work with what we’re given, and even change the script around in a moments notice just because someone might not be able to come in for a matinee one day. We’ll get back to me and Rob in a minute
Morgan is working toward a degree in college. True, she’s no Betty Garbo, but then again I’m no Clark Gable. She does a great job. True, she and I don’t always agree about things, and sometimes I think she’s out of line with some of the things she does, but I’d honestly go to bat for her anytime she needed it because she’s one of the good ones. She works hard and STILL they treat her like crap, more so than me and Rob. Gina…well, Gina is a jerk. She talks about me behind my back, and she and I know that we hate each other, but all personal vendettas aside, she needs money too. She left a good job to come back to the castle to work which gave her great benefits for her and her daughter, and now she’s been thrust into the falconer position and never once complained about it (at least within my earshot) and was even promised a full-time position with benefits and the possibility of being salaried soon, but now they refuse her that as well. I really detest Gina but honestly, I know how it is to go hungry, and I can only imagine how it must be to be threatened with the thought of not being able to provide for your daughter.
Back to me and Rob. We are degreed actors. We have both been in productions in college and such, we know the biz, and we know how things should be run, at least from an actor’s aspect. Still we get shafted. I live with him and I know what he goes through because I’m going through it too. He told me earlier this year that when winter hit last year he had to take out different loans and such just to make it week to week. Tell me that this is justice. All our lives we’re told that if we go to college we’ll make great money when we get a job in our field. I was very fortunate and got this job right out of college…most people have to look for a long time after school to find a job in their field. We work hard at university and go into INCREDIBLE debt to better ourselves and attain a level of higher education and we get slapped in the face by management at Medieval Times who never stepped foot into a college classroom…hell, the operations manager didn’t even graduate FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL. And HE’S telling US how we should do our job? Something is definitely fucked up about that. I understand that experience is important, but a degree means a lot…I mean, if it didn’t, why would people even go to college?
You may say, “Dave you’re whining…you just need to suck it up and get a second job until the season picks up again in the summer.” And to that I say, “No I don’t.” Like I said before, I went to college for a reason, and if I have to get a second job outside of my field for fucking $5.50 an hour, I might as well have never went $20,000 into debt to go to school. And that’d be another job that I’d have to quit when the season starts up again and they begin sending us to the beaches for marketing and then start springing Friday night double shows on us two hours before doors open. I understand that the business is fickle and fleeting, but I managed to land a good , fun job right out of school, and I just think that people who don’t even have high school diplomas shouldn’t be able to make their car payments in the winter before I’m able to. It’s a pride thing…a man’s got his pride, and while I realize that “pride cometh before the fall”, I think I’ve paid my dues and worked hard my whole life and therefore I deserve to at least be able to afford a decent car, rent, and food in the house.
At the moment I’m a payment behind on my car, I owe Rob a lot of money for past rent (who has been VERY patient with me, and I fear may have to be patient with me for a while longer), and Christmas is very fast approaching. I don’t understand why we have to struggle so much. Randy, the operations manager, approached me the other day before we opened doors for the show and he said, in the fakest way possible, “Well buddy, you’ve looked down in the dumps for a few days…is everything ok?” to which I replied, “Well, I can’t pay my bills and Rob is pissed at me because I can’t afford all the rent I owe him.”. At this he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Yeah, that’s Myrtle Beach for you,” and walked away. I wanted to say “So, how are YOUR finances coming? Get your G.E.D. yet?” I wanted to punch him in the teeth as well, but I kept it all in, which is why this post is so freaking long.
I moved out of my old apartment in Conway which I loved dearly because I couldn’t afford to live by myself. I may end up having to return my car, my lovely, new, first-new-car-in-the-entire-family Honda Civic because I can’t afford it. Who knows…there’s rumors going around the castle that layoffs are coming up again this Christmas like last year…I may end up having to leave my job and never come back (because a new rule the new GM implemented about people not being able to be rehired no matter the circumstances). Why do I not try to find work somewhere else? Why don’t I talk to Dixie Stampede or Carolina Opry or any of the other theatres in the area?
Because I love what I do.
I love getting on that horse and cantering out to the center of the arena with four spotlights on me, without a soul in the sand but me and Solteron, with all those people looking directly at me, listening to everything I say. I love meeting the people who come to see the show, how nice they are, how the compliment me on my accent work, how they buy me drinks when Randy isn’t looking, how they shake my hand and tell me I “did a good job tonight”. I love seeing the kids get all excited when they run up to their knights after the show for pictures and autographs. I love the people I work with too…Rob and Spike and Brian and Jim, the cast manager (he’s the only manager who seems to care about us as employees, but again, he’s just a slave to the machine.) This is really the only place in my entire life that I’ve felt accepted in what I do. Yeah, I get aggravated with the people from time to time, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’ve said it before, and I’ll always believe it; that place is like a high school.
***2 Hour Intermission***
I just had a talk with my mom…I’m thinking about going to grad school to get my MFA…but that requires money…I don’t know…I’ll keep you informed…
This is my only outlet with which to express my anger and aggravation, and since it’s been building up for quite a while I think it’s time for a little ventilation. When I say this is my only outlet, it’s really not, but it seems that when I try to complain about things to people they get angry with me and say that all I’m doing is whining. Those people are probably right, and if they read this I don’t want them to take offense at me saying that. I just need some way to get all this out because I feel that if I don’t I’m going to do something rash.
I’m so fed up with work, and when I say work, I don’t mean my actual job. I mean the way the people at the Myrtle Beach castle treat their employees. This time last year I was struggling as well and that ended up with me moving back to my mom and dad’s house and teaching and hating every minute of it and STILL being broke. It’s come full circle, and I, like always, have the option to move home, but the difference between last year and this year is the fact that I don’t want to go home. I really feel that this is my home, and it honestly has been for the past five years.
The people in management at the castle…well, I don’t know how to describe them. Perhaps it’s the corporation itself, perhaps it’s just this castle, but they refuse to give anyone hours. And when I say anyone I mean anyone but the knights. They’re allowed to come in and pussyfoot around until late in the evening…sure, they ride horses and practice fights, but when they fight its only two or three at a time while the rest of them are standing on the wall of the arena talking about everything BUT work, and then after they practice for a couple of hours they spend the rest of their time throwing darts, walking around, or honestly just sitting. Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with that…I believe that if you can get paid for doing very little work, go for it! But when they can do it while the cast gets scrutinized for every hour they make, it seems a little unfair. I realize that the knights work hard, ESPECIALLY in the summer, and that the castle should take care of them and repay their efforts in the winter by turning a blind eye to their shenanigans, but what about the cast…? I mean, yeah, some of the cast don’t really need a whole lot of hours, like George the king, for instance, who works there just as a hobby, but what about me and Rob and Morgan and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, Gina? Rob and I have college degrees in what we’re doing. That’s right…college fucking degrees. I dare not mention that at work for fear of getting bitched out by everyone who doesn’t have one and say that just because we have degrees doesn’t mean that we deserve more hours than we’re getting. They think we do no work and just ride the clock. Well, our work may not be gladiatorial like the knight’s work, but it’s just as hard. We have to memorize lines, stall for time, improvise, make things work with what we’re given, and even change the script around in a moments notice just because someone might not be able to come in for a matinee one day. We’ll get back to me and Rob in a minute
Morgan is working toward a degree in college. True, she’s no Betty Garbo, but then again I’m no Clark Gable. She does a great job. True, she and I don’t always agree about things, and sometimes I think she’s out of line with some of the things she does, but I’d honestly go to bat for her anytime she needed it because she’s one of the good ones. She works hard and STILL they treat her like crap, more so than me and Rob. Gina…well, Gina is a jerk. She talks about me behind my back, and she and I know that we hate each other, but all personal vendettas aside, she needs money too. She left a good job to come back to the castle to work which gave her great benefits for her and her daughter, and now she’s been thrust into the falconer position and never once complained about it (at least within my earshot) and was even promised a full-time position with benefits and the possibility of being salaried soon, but now they refuse her that as well. I really detest Gina but honestly, I know how it is to go hungry, and I can only imagine how it must be to be threatened with the thought of not being able to provide for your daughter.
Back to me and Rob. We are degreed actors. We have both been in productions in college and such, we know the biz, and we know how things should be run, at least from an actor’s aspect. Still we get shafted. I live with him and I know what he goes through because I’m going through it too. He told me earlier this year that when winter hit last year he had to take out different loans and such just to make it week to week. Tell me that this is justice. All our lives we’re told that if we go to college we’ll make great money when we get a job in our field. I was very fortunate and got this job right out of college…most people have to look for a long time after school to find a job in their field. We work hard at university and go into INCREDIBLE debt to better ourselves and attain a level of higher education and we get slapped in the face by management at Medieval Times who never stepped foot into a college classroom…hell, the operations manager didn’t even graduate FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL. And HE’S telling US how we should do our job? Something is definitely fucked up about that. I understand that experience is important, but a degree means a lot…I mean, if it didn’t, why would people even go to college?
You may say, “Dave you’re whining…you just need to suck it up and get a second job until the season picks up again in the summer.” And to that I say, “No I don’t.” Like I said before, I went to college for a reason, and if I have to get a second job outside of my field for fucking $5.50 an hour, I might as well have never went $20,000 into debt to go to school. And that’d be another job that I’d have to quit when the season starts up again and they begin sending us to the beaches for marketing and then start springing Friday night double shows on us two hours before doors open. I understand that the business is fickle and fleeting, but I managed to land a good , fun job right out of school, and I just think that people who don’t even have high school diplomas shouldn’t be able to make their car payments in the winter before I’m able to. It’s a pride thing…a man’s got his pride, and while I realize that “pride cometh before the fall”, I think I’ve paid my dues and worked hard my whole life and therefore I deserve to at least be able to afford a decent car, rent, and food in the house.
At the moment I’m a payment behind on my car, I owe Rob a lot of money for past rent (who has been VERY patient with me, and I fear may have to be patient with me for a while longer), and Christmas is very fast approaching. I don’t understand why we have to struggle so much. Randy, the operations manager, approached me the other day before we opened doors for the show and he said, in the fakest way possible, “Well buddy, you’ve looked down in the dumps for a few days…is everything ok?” to which I replied, “Well, I can’t pay my bills and Rob is pissed at me because I can’t afford all the rent I owe him.”. At this he put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Yeah, that’s Myrtle Beach for you,” and walked away. I wanted to say “So, how are YOUR finances coming? Get your G.E.D. yet?” I wanted to punch him in the teeth as well, but I kept it all in, which is why this post is so freaking long.
I moved out of my old apartment in Conway which I loved dearly because I couldn’t afford to live by myself. I may end up having to return my car, my lovely, new, first-new-car-in-the-entire-family Honda Civic because I can’t afford it. Who knows…there’s rumors going around the castle that layoffs are coming up again this Christmas like last year…I may end up having to leave my job and never come back (because a new rule the new GM implemented about people not being able to be rehired no matter the circumstances). Why do I not try to find work somewhere else? Why don’t I talk to Dixie Stampede or Carolina Opry or any of the other theatres in the area?
Because I love what I do.
I love getting on that horse and cantering out to the center of the arena with four spotlights on me, without a soul in the sand but me and Solteron, with all those people looking directly at me, listening to everything I say. I love meeting the people who come to see the show, how nice they are, how the compliment me on my accent work, how they buy me drinks when Randy isn’t looking, how they shake my hand and tell me I “did a good job tonight”. I love seeing the kids get all excited when they run up to their knights after the show for pictures and autographs. I love the people I work with too…Rob and Spike and Brian and Jim, the cast manager (he’s the only manager who seems to care about us as employees, but again, he’s just a slave to the machine.) This is really the only place in my entire life that I’ve felt accepted in what I do. Yeah, I get aggravated with the people from time to time, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’ve said it before, and I’ll always believe it; that place is like a high school.
***2 Hour Intermission***
I just had a talk with my mom…I’m thinking about going to grad school to get my MFA…but that requires money…I don’t know…I’ll keep you informed…