My first job was also my worst. I was a 16 year old with no car or money. That was my exact goal for that horrible summer of 2002.
Because I live in Buena Park, I looked outside my house and saw Knott’s Berry Farm. I have had good memories at Knott’s, so I thought I would give working there a shot. Little did I know that the Cedar Fairs evil corporation bought the place from the good old Knott family. I had to find out the hard way.
At first, I was ecstatic that I had finally found a job. My job was to work at the food cart at the Soak City water park next door for $6.75 an hour, where I would sell churros, chips, ice cream, sodas and anything else unhealthy. There were no chairs, so I would have to stand in the hot summer sun for eight hours a day. To be working 40 hours a week at age 16 is tough, but to stand all day is even worse.
Then there were the customers I had to deal with. Due to the daily “accidents” in the wave pool, I would literally see herds of people go to the burger joint and eat their crappy Soak City-quality lunch after an hour’s wait. As if their lunch were not enough, they would come to my cart and eat even more.
And most were mean with no manners. Many times, because I was so busy serving the customers, little kids would sneak around and steal whatever they could. Other times, customers would purposely give me a hard time, like bringing back their half-eaten churro and demanding a refund.
Then there was the management, or what little there was of it. They were all about profit. More than once, no one gave me a break and I ended up working a full eight-hour shift without one. My complaints fell on deaf ears as it continued to happen. When we closed, instead of allowing me to eat the extra churros or pretzels, I was forced to throw them away in the trash. And when management told me I had to charge 10 cents for water because it would increase profits, I was about to go on eBay and order myself a cyanide capsule to end that horrible summer.
So what kept me sane? Two things: a common interest with employees and the food I would constantly eat at my cart. These same two reasons would get me fired by the end of summer. Knott’s will hire anyone, so I was working with more weirdos than normal people. We all became friends because the one thing we had in common was our hatred of Knott’s. It really made the whole work day a little better. We constantly wished there was a way we could bring the place down because it stood for pure evil.
When working with food, sooner or later you are going to eat that food. I would start my daily meal with a couple of perfectly cooked churros, not those old hard ones I would sell to mean customers. Next on my meal agenda were Dip n’ Dots, my personal favorite. I would then pour it in a Pepsi cup and pretend I was drinking soda, which was the only thing we were allowed to drink for free. Then I washed all that down with a nice cold Icee.
It sounds bad, but I am glad I got fired. Why was I fired? Like many others, I was stealing food and just not really doing my job anymore. I ended up taking longer breaks and just hanging around with other employees who were on the same mission, among other things. It worked for a long time and I was really starting to enjoy the place. I am not a bad person; I have a conscience. But it was the only time I can remember where I did not feel guilty for doing something I knew was wrong. It sounds weird, but it felt right to express ourselves this way to management.
Make sure that when you look for a job that you work for the city, state or a family-run business. They actually care about you, unlike corporations whose only interest is profit.
But I have met some good people working at those types of places – even Knott’s. And in the end, I had enough money to buy my first car, a 1993 Toyota pickup truck that I still drive to this day. So Knott’s did reward me with something, even though I lost a little of my soul in the process.
Daniel Macri is a junior film major.
