Bleeding Perseverance - Episode 49

Autobiography Fridays

Although it had only been a weekend it seemed odd being back in the real world after being isolated from it for fifty-six hours. On the drive home I did a lot of thinking. Thinking I had been doing for the past few months.

Ninjutsu had truly become a part of my mind, body, and soul. It had brought me peace and the gift of being at one with myself. But I was now twenty-three years old and still without a career. Like most, I wanted to have a family of my own someday, and a way to support such a goal that would not only bring financial success, but personal satisfaction as well. All my life I’ve always went for things I’ve been passionate about, and I knew I needed that same feeling when it came to a career.

Back in ‘96 Stephen had been attending an Academy of Arts college. One of his assignments had been to make a one-minute short film. Using Jake’s camcorder, he came to the dojo and used Robin and I as his actors. Basically I’d be walking behind the dojo and other businesses and Robin would then jump out with a knife and try to rob me. Using a wrist-breaking technique to defend myself, I’d then run away.

Shooting it awoke my strong feelings for filmmaking I had had since childhood, and now I was seriously thinking about turning those strong feelings into reality. A career in filmmaking was something I could really see myself doing for the rest of my life, but without wanting to jump the gun I continued my training and began to research a little.

By mid-September a change of season’s brought a change for me as well. After some serious contemplating I made one of the hardest decisions of my life and chose to leave the dojo to pursue my future. Thanks to Stephen K. Hayes I had discovered one of the greatest art forms in this world, and thanks to Jimmy I had become pretty damn good at it.

In the art there’s a term called uchi deshi, which means home student. Basically it’s when a teacher takes on a student as his protégé. The student lives with his mentor and cooks and cleans in exchange for full time training. I probably never would have left my training if Jimmy would have taken me under his wing in such a way, but he was young (late twenties I believe) and hadn’t reached such a point in his life, so destiny came in and paved another road

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So there it was. After eighteen months of straight intensive training it was time to set out on another adventure. Changes came in other forms as well. At Revco, the store was going through renovations and now being called CVS. After going through a half dozen store managers a permanent one was finally assigned to our location. Unfortunately it came in the form of Oma, a total bitch. On that first evening of meeting her I knew things weren’t going to work out.

You see, a couple of hours before closing I’d head out to the floor to straighten the products on the shelves. A constant job in retail. The pharmacist on duty would watch the counter while I did this, and if it started to get too busy I’d come help ring up customers. By working together in this way we were able to get things done so when closing time came along we’d just have to do the last of the closing procedures and then go home. (Usually leaving by 9:10-9:15 p.m.) Not only did this allow us to get home at a good time, but it also saved the company some money on labor.

Well, after sixteen months of doing things this way we didn’t need some stubborn jackass coming in screwing things up, but that’s exactly what we got with Oma. She was from Nigeria, which I thought would make things interesting by giving me a chance to learn more about the country, especially since there was a singer I liked from there. Sade. But this woman turned out to be a bad representative of the African Nation. She’d just stand at the counter talking the evening away with her equally idiotic best friend who was also from the same country.

Every time a customer would come up to check out she‟d call me to come ring them up, even though she was standing right there! At this rate I’d never get the straightening done.

Sensing how upset I was becoming she asked me what the problem was, so I told her. She’d be talking in circles with her excuses and resolving nothing. It was then that I knew it was time to start looking for another job. Working in a diverse world means learning, compromising, and joining together to achieve, but sometimes you can’t help but come across an asshole who’s as steadfast to stubbornness as a fly is to shit.

Now I had to find another job to replace my main source of income. My plan was to find a good film school, work hard to save until the following summer, and then move to wherever the location of the school happened to be. So I needed a full-time job that would at least pay the same amount as the drug store. Fortunately, MediaPlay had a maintenance opening. This was a store that had four main sections. Music, Movies, Books, and Software. It was located about the same distance from the drug store to the townhouse, but in the opposite direction. With the advantage of having gained experience at Howe Elementary eight years earlier, I was hired and happy to get Oma outta’ my life!

Fall also brought Chino the decision to return to Stockton. For the few months that we were reunited he had a tough time being away from his son, although only going back and being in the same city as him wouldn’t really help things. I told him that if he really wanted Eric back in his life he would have to set a clear goal and become intently focused on it. Get a really good job, (which could mean more education if necessary) a good home, etc. This way he could prove to the courts that Eric would be in a much more stable and responsible environment than if he were to live with his mom, therefore increasing the chances of being awarded primary custody. But no matter how much you want to help someone by giving them a better solution, they will be the one who ultimately chooses how to live their life. So all I could do was hope for the best for him.

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MediaPlay for me was like a toy store for a kid. Music to soothe my soul. Movies to take me on journeys. And ahh… the books! My shift started at 7 a.m., three hours before opening, and ended at 3 p.m. I’d spend those first three hours cleaning areas that would be too busy with customers during open hours. Cleaning the bathrooms. Sweeping and mopping the floors. Cleaning the storefront glass. I’d then go to each section and clean whatever needed to be cleaned. After lunch I’d work on special projects such as hanging signage.

The store manager, who had the same name as my roommate David, also happened to be the district manager. He was pretty quiet and strict but was always generous with his compliments on my work.

If you’ve ever worked for a large company with a lot of stores you’ve probably experienced the ridiculous practice I like to refer to as ‘chicken-with-its-head-cut-off syndrome.’ It’s when a higher-up in the company comes to inspect a store. With like a day’s notice or sometimes just hours, everyone is running around like a chicken with its head cut off rushing to make the store look as perfect as possible.

What a load of bullshit!

First off, who the hell is this person coming, a president of a country?! (And even if that were the case, so what? I mean, I respect anyone when I first meet them. I don’t care if they’re making Whoppers or making billions of dollars. There’s a difference between respect and kissing ass. Obviously I wouldn’t be a good candidate for meeting some royal family. When it comes down to it we all breathe and bleed, and I’m sure as hell not going through some kiss ass rituals to meet someone. Again, respecting an individual for achieving greatness or such is one thing. Playing worship is quite another.)

The second problem with this whole corporate-pleasing charade is how obviously false it is. They play the same game over and over again. Corporate calls beforehand to give notice of the upcoming visit, then everyone’s running around trying to make things look pretty. So this higher-up isn’t actually seeing things for how they truly are on a day-to-day basis. They’re coming in and just seeing a façade. Then once they leave, everyone breathes a sigh of relief and things go back to how they really are.

What a waste of time and money. If I were a company head I’d start off by eliminating such fictitious practices. Instill a work ethic of everyone working together to achieve company goals, instead of focusing so much on hierarchy. And just dropping in on store branches, to see how things are really being ran.

Although the higher-up never really gave oral compliments when visiting, David told me this was the first time the big wig had never complained about the cleanliness of the store. So in other words, “You’re doing a great job.”

Being the movie buff I was and preparing for film school, I asked David if he’d keep me in mind when a position became available in the movie section. He said sure, but asked me if I thought I’d be able to handle the computer there. After filling him in on my past experience, he admitted he hadn’t been aware of the qualities I possessed and assured me that I’d be considered when a position was available.

This taught me a very important lesson in life. Never assume that someone knows your talents, even if they work with you. You have to step up and make it be known. Sure you’ll occasionally come across asses who will be threatened by you and/or not realize the benefit of using your abilities, but if you don’t speak up things won’t progress and become better for you.

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After doing quite a bit of research on film schools I came across one