In 2019, I got my first job at a major movie theater company where things, contrary to the slogan, are definitely not amazing. I stayed at that first location until 2021, when I went off to college. In May, I decided to apply to a different location, and they hired me with EASE. When I started working, a manager immediately told me he saw me as “crew lead material.” HE initiated this conversation, I had no plans to apply for a promotion, but after him hyping me up, I decided to apply. The interview for the promotion went extremely well, she basically promised me the job on the spot before finishing interviews.
Here begins the chain of problems.
My acceptance email said I would be getting paid $12.50. When I noticed my pay hadnt been changed from $10 to $12.50, I called the GM, and she said 12 was a typo. I would only be making $11.50. This irked me but i said whatever.
As soon as I put on the red shirt (for crew lead) the managers treated me differently than they had as crew. But i was doing the exact same work, which they had praised me for. It was obvious the other older employees were upset I had been chosen, and I faced a great deal of resistance from my crew. My first day as crew lead was horrid. I almost quit on the spot.
The treatment got worse and worse as the days continued, and the other crew leads were being praised for doing minimal work and i was being insulted and talked down to. My job somehow was 10x harder when I had other crew leads on shift, which I later found out was because none of them liked me enough to help.
We were so understaffed that management had us training NEW HIRES on the opening night of the minions movie. And the blame for everything they couldnt do was of course placed on me. Its not as if maybe training on a major weekend was already shorthanding us? We went home at 2am because closing theaters was impossible when people didnt know what to do.
The next day, which was my first day being the only lead on shift and ultimately my final day working for this company, management basically made my position obsolete and treated me the entire day as if I was a child incapable of the job THEY asked me to do. As punishment for not successfully operating my crew of new hires with the same efficiency as any other day. They were harsh with my crew and refused to let me act as a leader, and instead made me once again train new hires.
So I walked out. Havent gone back since. If you WANTED me to apply for a promotion, do not treat me like a nuisance once you’ve promoted me.
I quit before Thor opening weekend, I hope they were fucking swamped.