I had lots of fun celebrating New Year's Eve this year. Most of my friends were either still out of town or busy with other plans, so my younger sister Laura and her husband Brett came over to celebrate with Chandra and me. Laura brought chicken wings and a cheese ball -- homemade cheese ball is one of my favorite things to eat on New Year's Eve! After we had our unhealthy dinner of wings, cheese ball and other snacks, we played two games of Phase 10. The game consists of 10 rounds, so it took us several hours to play the game twice and we didn't finish until about 11:30. We watched TV and saw the ball drop in Times Square. This makes me sound old, but this was the first time I've stayed up till midnight to ring in the new year on New Year's Eve in many, many years! (I don't think I've stayed up till midnight on New Year's Eve since before my car accident, so it's been at least six years!)
Laura and Brett spent the night with us and then the next day we went to the movies to see Avatar. We saw the movie in 3-D and it was so neat! I've never seen a movie in 3-D before, so I decided to buck up the three extra dollars, even though I could've seen the regular movie at the regular price just a few minutes later. To be perfectly honest, $10.25 seems outrageous for a movie, especially when I saw free movies for years and years when I worked at the movie theater, but oh well... sometimes the cost is worth the experience.
I actually went to the movie theater where I used to work, and this is only the second time I've done this since my accident. (The first time was actually just last month when I went to see New Moon with my friend Lacee.) When I was going to see New Moon my mom asked me if it was going to be emotionally difficult for me to go back to the place where I used to work. It wasn't... I was excited. It was good to see my old theater again, but the one thing that did make me sad was that no one there knew me anymore. The people working there just saw me as an ordinary patron, when in fact there's a good chance that I knew more about doing their jobs than they do. My feelings might sound silly, but that's nonetheless, that the way I felt.
You might be wondering why I hadn't gone back to see a movie at my theater before now. Three reasons.
#1) I didn't go out in public very much at all the first several years after my accident. Although I was happy, I didn't like leaving the house because it was so much work for my mom to take me out. Home was my favorite place to be and I really didn't have the desire to go out and do things in the community. A couple of years ago I started making what I call my "social return to society." I started going to a religion class every week, and it was there that I had the opportunity to make new friends for the first time since my accident. Making new friends made me want to go out again and do things that normal people my age do.
#2) When I started seeing movies in movie theaters again I did not want to go to the movie theater chain that I used to work at... Wehrenberg Theaters. I worked for the company for 3 1/2 years and during that time I found out what the owners were like. Employees were and are paid terribly. At the time of my accident I was working as an associate manager, but I only made an insulting $6.90 an hour. Movie theaters are open 365 days a year and employees are expected to work holidays at our regular wage... no holiday pay, even for managers. I don't feel like the owners respect their employers very much, so I prefer to give my business to other companies instead of Wehrenberg Theaters.
#3) Wehrenberg Theaters has terrible seating accommodations for people in wheelchairs. Not only do I have to sit in the very front of the auditorium, but I also have to sit on the side, so it hurts my delicate neck. There are other movie theaters in my area that have cutouts for wheelchairs in the middle of the row of seats, so it's much more comfortable for me.
Well, that's how I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, as well as some of my thoughts about movie theaters!
Laura and Brett spent the night with us and then the next day we went to the movies to see Avatar. We saw the movie in 3-D and it was so neat! I've never seen a movie in 3-D before, so I decided to buck up the three extra dollars, even though I could've seen the regular movie at the regular price just a few minutes later. To be perfectly honest, $10.25 seems outrageous for a movie, especially when I saw free movies for years and years when I worked at the movie theater, but oh well... sometimes the cost is worth the experience.
I actually went to the movie theater where I used to work, and this is only the second time I've done this since my accident. (The first time was actually just last month when I went to see New Moon with my friend Lacee.) When I was going to see New Moon my mom asked me if it was going to be emotionally difficult for me to go back to the place where I used to work. It wasn't... I was excited. It was good to see my old theater again, but the one thing that did make me sad was that no one there knew me anymore. The people working there just saw me as an ordinary patron, when in fact there's a good chance that I knew more about doing their jobs than they do. My feelings might sound silly, but that's nonetheless, that the way I felt.
You might be wondering why I hadn't gone back to see a movie at my theater before now. Three reasons.
#1) I didn't go out in public very much at all the first several years after my accident. Although I was happy, I didn't like leaving the house because it was so much work for my mom to take me out. Home was my favorite place to be and I really didn't have the desire to go out and do things in the community. A couple of years ago I started making what I call my "social return to society." I started going to a religion class every week, and it was there that I had the opportunity to make new friends for the first time since my accident. Making new friends made me want to go out again and do things that normal people my age do.
#2) When I started seeing movies in movie theaters again I did not want to go to the movie theater chain that I used to work at... Wehrenberg Theaters. I worked for the company for 3 1/2 years and during that time I found out what the owners were like. Employees were and are paid terribly. At the time of my accident I was working as an associate manager, but I only made an insulting $6.90 an hour. Movie theaters are open 365 days a year and employees are expected to work holidays at our regular wage... no holiday pay, even for managers. I don't feel like the owners respect their employers very much, so I prefer to give my business to other companies instead of Wehrenberg Theaters.
#3) Wehrenberg Theaters has terrible seating accommodations for people in wheelchairs. Not only do I have to sit in the very front of the auditorium, but I also have to sit on the side, so it hurts my delicate neck. There are other movie theaters in my area that have cutouts for wheelchairs in the middle of the row of seats, so it's much more comfortable for me.
Well, that's how I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, as well as some of my thoughts about movie theaters!
Happy New year! Can't beat good tasting food, even if it unhealthy, to bring in the new year.
ReplyDeleteI had so much fun catching up on your blog and your holiday adventures. It looks and sounds like you had a wonderful time. I am hoping to come down sometime this month and visit with you. Love you, Carolyn
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