For those of you who don't know me I should start out by telling you that for the last 38 years of my life I have been working in the entertainment business.
I primarily work in live events, on a stage. That's not to say I haven't done everything else too. I have in my past been a cameraman, photographer, editor, gaffer, grip, director, you name it.
Mostly I am a stagehand. I started in lighting and for the last many years have worked in the audio department as an A2.
Some of the acts I have shared a stage with include, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Prince, Dolly Parton, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jay Leno, Ronnie James Dio, Metallica, the Ramones, a whole lot of Broadway shows and ballet, people like Elton John and Iggy Pop, Michael Jackson, and Frankie Avalon. This list could go on for pages, a lot of them.
In any case I was writing a book about my life, a memoir of sorts about my breakup with my girlfriend of eighteen years, my adventures with and without her and the memories of my work onstage with the many of the people I have worked with.
That's when Covid-19 happened.
Hard to do a live show with a raging virus loose. The day we got sent home from stage coincidentally was also the last day of my writing in my book, and the beginning of the long process of editing.
It was the first time in 41 years I found myself unemployed. I imagine many of you who are reading this did too.
I spent a few months quite happily at home, it was really the first time I have ever taken more than two weeks off at a time in my entire life. Luckily I had signed up for unemployment early, before the massive rush. So until this last week, I did like many people, enjoy my time off, while also panicking that I may never work again and would go broke and become homeless.
Recently though, the employer who owns the theater in which I work as a stagehand offered me some new work which would contribute more hours towards my pension fund.
It's kind of a shitty job though, and that's how I found myself working as a janitor.
Overall the job is not bad, mostly it's in mitigation of the virus. A lot of people who are eligible decided not to do the job. Maybe their pride got to them, but I don't have any pride, I'm a stagehand!
Today as I made my rounds I found myself standing in front of a toilet where someone had just visited in a rush because they were suffering from diarrhea. Instead of cleaning up after themselves they made a hasty exit probably thinking, "man I feel sorry for the guy who has to clean this shit up."
And that guy today was me.
It had to happen sometime, but I figured it would take more than 3 days. When I told my supervisor about it, as he returned from lunch, he laughed and said, "that doesn't happen very often, I'm surprised it happened so early to you."
Definitely now, a shitty job.
But I'll forge on until I can get back to working with famous people on stage again, although that may be a while.
I didn't think after leaving the stage I'd be doing much writing. I figured life wouldn't be as exciting anymore. Sometimes though you find interesting stories in the most mundane places.
So I guess I'll continue to write here as time goes on.
Maybe they'll be stories like this, maybe there will be some politics. Whatever crap is rolling around in my brain, that shit's going to come out all over this blog like that dude's diarrhea did on my fucking toilet.
So stop by and read My Fuckin Blog.
See you around.
I primarily work in live events, on a stage. That's not to say I haven't done everything else too. I have in my past been a cameraman, photographer, editor, gaffer, grip, director, you name it.
Mostly I am a stagehand. I started in lighting and for the last many years have worked in the audio department as an A2.
Some of the acts I have shared a stage with include, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Prince, Dolly Parton, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jay Leno, Ronnie James Dio, Metallica, the Ramones, a whole lot of Broadway shows and ballet, people like Elton John and Iggy Pop, Michael Jackson, and Frankie Avalon. This list could go on for pages, a lot of them.
In any case I was writing a book about my life, a memoir of sorts about my breakup with my girlfriend of eighteen years, my adventures with and without her and the memories of my work onstage with the many of the people I have worked with.
That's when Covid-19 happened.
Hard to do a live show with a raging virus loose. The day we got sent home from stage coincidentally was also the last day of my writing in my book, and the beginning of the long process of editing.
It was the first time in 41 years I found myself unemployed. I imagine many of you who are reading this did too.
I spent a few months quite happily at home, it was really the first time I have ever taken more than two weeks off at a time in my entire life. Luckily I had signed up for unemployment early, before the massive rush. So until this last week, I did like many people, enjoy my time off, while also panicking that I may never work again and would go broke and become homeless.
Recently though, the employer who owns the theater in which I work as a stagehand offered me some new work which would contribute more hours towards my pension fund.
It's kind of a shitty job though, and that's how I found myself working as a janitor.
Overall the job is not bad, mostly it's in mitigation of the virus. A lot of people who are eligible decided not to do the job. Maybe their pride got to them, but I don't have any pride, I'm a stagehand!
Today as I made my rounds I found myself standing in front of a toilet where someone had just visited in a rush because they were suffering from diarrhea. Instead of cleaning up after themselves they made a hasty exit probably thinking, "man I feel sorry for the guy who has to clean this shit up."
And that guy today was me.
It had to happen sometime, but I figured it would take more than 3 days. When I told my supervisor about it, as he returned from lunch, he laughed and said, "that doesn't happen very often, I'm surprised it happened so early to you."
Definitely now, a shitty job.
But I'll forge on until I can get back to working with famous people on stage again, although that may be a while.
I didn't think after leaving the stage I'd be doing much writing. I figured life wouldn't be as exciting anymore. Sometimes though you find interesting stories in the most mundane places.
So I guess I'll continue to write here as time goes on.
Maybe they'll be stories like this, maybe there will be some politics. Whatever crap is rolling around in my brain, that shit's going to come out all over this blog like that dude's diarrhea did on my fucking toilet.
So stop by and read My Fuckin Blog.
See you around.
