Pacific Theatres HR: Walk like A, Talk like B.
HR at Pacific was a completely different beast than with AMC. AMC had sought control of every aspect of scheduling and development, with authority that was very carefully and specifically delegated. Pacific on the other hand came from a place of empowerment. At least, that was their goal. The...
The Tools of the Oppressor
The first big tool-building achievement was probably the weekly scheduling guide. The spreadsheet started off as a single grid that would tally up staff hours in different areas as they were assigned, for comparison against the attendance-based payroll targets that drove weekly scheduling. By the time I was done,...
American Multi-Chattel Human Resources
At one point some manager somewhere went on a rebellious bender. For maybe 6 weeks, he sent out a self-published AMC newsletter to all AMC fax numbers. It was titled “Oppression” and until the guy got caught and fired, he spent those weeks giving his honest opinion of AMC’s...
I WAS BARELY 17 AND I’D ONCE KILLED A CUSTOMER WITH A MILK DUD
He had it coming, too. I used to do hiring- interviews, orientations, everything related. As much as people make my skin crawl, those interactions I was totally cool with. Other managers tended to hire poorly. Other managers were crummy educators. This isn’t vanity, that was self-preservation. When I was...
I REMEMBER EVERYTHING
I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday… I remember the compliments. I move forward by beating myself up, and I tend to not take the observations of others too seriously because on any of several levels people just have no idea. Even praise becomes iffy,...
AMC Theatres: A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy
Yep, I said it. There’s another good booth story, but it introduces our second villain before you’ve even met the first. AMC had a handful of villains along the way. There was the micromanager, the bad mom, the thief, the stooge, the two backstabbers, the two paranoid headcases, and...
Working on the 35mm chain gang.
One more “good” story before the fun ones. My dad worked for a while as a deckhand on a riverboat. It wasn’t 1920, just the midwest. That was the cool job in his life. Mine was in the projection booth. AMC has always been a massive thing, with resources...
Just one word. Are you listening?
Plastics. I took my car into the shop yesterday, 2/22/22. The odometer had 155,555 miles on it. I’d like to think that would translate into some good fortune on the repair bill, but I’m not that kind of lucky. So I decided to point that luck somewhere else and...
DRAFT National Security in the Years Before Covid, and After Donald
I have this egotistic conception of myself as a writer, offering up my voice to the National Conversation. Which is nutty but whatever. I read these ‘think’ pieces from knowledgeable people, and sometimes they make sense. Sometimes they draw upon a broad slice of reality, and present conclusions that...
It’s True; The Internet Said So
I didn’t make this up, I just want to be clear. But I don’t disagree. One question ’bout which I rant and raveis what it takes to be a DaveDaves are witty, pleasant, kind,and of an odder state of mindbesides. But peering closer showsfacts often startling when disclosed.Tastes in...