I just got back from dim sum with my friends. We went to the bar for a few drinks. It was nice seeing everyone again, because I haven’t seen them since I stopped working at the parking lot. It’s been a while since I’ve actually posted here, so I’ll get you up to speed with what’s been going on.
Last Day of Work
I had several missed calls from work on a Monday in November. At first I thought someone called in sick and they wanted me to cover a shift. When they finally managed to reach me, my supervisor let out a long sigh on the phone before saying:
“Redford, do you have your student form signed?”
“Nope.”
“Are you going to get it signed?”
“I’m not, sorry.”
“I’m sorry to say, but we’ll have to terminate you by the end of the business day.”
“Fair enough, I knew it was coming.”
And that’s the end of that. Then two minutes later:
“Redford?”
“Hey, what’s up?”
“About your shift tonight…do you plan on coming in?”
“Do you need me to?”
“Yeah, we can’t find anyone to cover your shift.”
“hahahaah, alright man, I’ll see you later.”
They actually needed special clearance to get me to work that last shift, but I did it anyway. It was a quiet day. I didn’t do anything crazy during my last shift, and I kinda wish that I had quit with a little more style like this guy:
But I’ve worked too hard building that bridge to burn it down.
I had no idea this video existed until I looked for it. I love how I can type in almost anything into Google and get an answer. The other day I was watching Fellowship of the Ring again and couldn’t help but notice how Elijah Wood’s pained expressions looked absolutely perfect for a jizz in my pants remix. So I typed in “Lord of the Rings, Jizz in my pants” and this video showed up:
Isn’t the internet amazing? Think about that for a second. I just typed in “Lord of the Rings, Jizz in my Pants” and actually got some search results that were relevant.
Anyway, long tangent aside, I just got back from dim sum. We went to Perfect Chinese Restaurant at Midland/Sheppard, and it was really rowdy. We went in and shortly after, I saw a police car pull into the restaurant. The guy did not look happy to be there, but it didn’t seem like anything was going on that was too bad, just people having a loud, good time. I suspect the police were called to ensure that the rowdy crowds settled their bills properly.
I’ve been waiting for a good day to watch this film, but it never came. I don’t know when I’ll ever be in the mood to watch a movie on the Nanking Massacre, but if anything, why not the day before Remembrance Day? Ok I lied, I didn’t realize the significance of the day until much after I finished the movie, but we’ll pretend that I planned it out this way.
A friend of mine posted the trailer on her Facebook and urged people to watch this movie. She called it the Asian Schindler’s List. I try not to say things like that because of how wrong these comparisons tend to end up. It’s shot in black and white and took place during World War II, and that’s more or less where the similarities end. Where Schindler’s List focuses the story on the good that one man does amidst a horrific genocide, City of Life and Death is pretty much two hours of Chinese people getting slaughtered. It’s Schindlers List without Schindler. I don’t blame them for making it so bleak, this was probably one of the most systematic destruction of a city I remember reading about in history, they only really needed to salt the earth to make it more complete.
It’s a good movie but it’s not one that you will enjoy. I was constantly getting angry and upset at the stuff going on in the film, but it’s also not showing me anything I haven’t already read about. Back in high school, when Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking was huge, learning about this part of history really blew my mind. It was always the European side of war that we learned about, so when I read about the atrocities that the Japanese army inflicted on Nanking I wondered why more people didn’t know about this. She referred to it as the hidden (or secret, I forget) holocaust of World War II. She was right. If I had watched this movie before I read (or knew about) this event, it would have had a more profound impact on me. I guess because I was already familiar with what was going on, the things I saw in the movie didn’t shock me as much as was intended. The things I’ve read were actually much worse than what was depicted in the film, so I’m glad that I didn’t get to see some really depraved stuff.
I still think it’s really well done. The way it’s shot, how everything looks, and the guerilla warfare battle sequences were all excellent. I’m always impressed with modern directors who can shoot an action sequence without the camera feeling like it’s being wheeled on a cobblestone road. And they get extra cookies for not having soundtracks that overpower the movie. While it is a violent movie, it’s not gratuitous at all. People die in droves, get mowed down by machine gun fire, but there’s nothing “cool” about it. It just is.
I can’t throw out a recommendation for this movie. It’s a damn good movie, but I don’t think I enjoyed a single minute of it (you’re not really supposed to). If, however, the Nanking massacre still interests you then watch it, just don’t expect to take anything new out of it.
The easiest part of my shift is when I’m outside helping out my customers. The hardest bit, contrary to what most people think, is when I’m in my booth with nothing to do, because that means the customers are out there fending for themselves. Like babies in the bathtub, you can’t leave customers unattended. Our machines aren’t the greatest, or the most efficient, but they’re definitely not complicated. The first step is usually to put the ticket into the machine. This is a step that most people get wrong. I’m not joking.
The tickets are small, credit-card sized, and have an arrow on the face of the ticket indicating which direction to put the ticket into the machine in. In case the arrow is ambiguous to anyone, there’s even a small blurb that says “insert this side up.” Several times today I had customers tell me their tickets weren’t working. When I ejected it out of the machine, the arrows were not facing up into the machine. To me, this is the equivalent to opening the door for someone and inviting them in, and having them promptly walk into the brick wall instead. Whenever I come across a situation like this I just take control and do everything for the customers, because there’s no real hope for you.
Much like how Dante’s Inferno has many layers of hell, so does my job. I have to at least give credit to the above customers, because they have the right ticket in their hand. Several customers today complained to me that their tickets weren’t working. When I got to the machine, I saw that they were trying to insert a receipt into the machine. Now, the receipt, much like the ticket, is credit-card sized. Sure, I’ll admit that you could possibly confuse the two, which is precisely why my company put “RECEIPT” in bright red capital letters on the face of the receipts. If this is somehow ambiguous, your credit card information and entrance and exit information is recorded on this stub as well.
A rather wealthy Asian man was getting fairly angry and frustrated because he wasn’t able to pay at the exit with his credit card. He had trouble at the entrance earlier, and I told him that he can pay right at the exit, like he normally does, only since he had to grab a ticket, he has to put the ticket in first. So here I am, three hours later, face to face with this customer. Accusations start flying:
“You told me the ticket would work at the exit.”
“They do, but that’s not the ticket.”
“Really? The one that says Toronto Parking Authority is not your ticket?”
“Well, not the one that says “receipt” on it. You don’t get receipts at the entrance.” (A real photo of me at that moment)
If this was a Yakuza thing, he would chop off the first knuckle of his pinky for that one.
I point this out because there’s no other parking lot or garage in the city that I’ve worked at that have this many people fail at the first step. Usually, they get tripped up when they have to put their credit card into the machine, or when they have to take the receipt out of the machine to open the gate. That I sympathize with much more because the instructions aren’t as clear. They’re there, but, there’s no arrows or anything to guide you. There’s absolutely no reason for you to screw up that first step. You’ve failed before you’ve begun, and that more or less sums up the Yorkville customers for you.
I’ve introduced myself to many, many people, and the first two questions that people love to ask are:
1) What do you do?
2a) Where did you go to school?
2b) For….?
I work at a parking lot, and I took English and History at school. I’m not sure if this is supposed to speak volumes about the person that I am or give them an opportunity to ask me stuff about my job as a means of continuing the conversation.
“You know, I never really see a parking lot attendant do any work.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true. When it’s busy it’s kind of dangerous for you to stand around watching us, with all those cars and all.”
It’s completely inescapable. If it’s not the first thing that’s asked, it’s the second. Maybe if you met through a mutual friend, they’ll ask you how you know, and maybe you’ll trade a few stories, before BAM! So…what do you do? It’s gotten to the point where my About Me section on my blog begins with me stating what degree I have and whether or not I have a job. I was about to re-write it today when I realized that I would only say the same things. I’d start with the degree I have, and what job I work at. Why am I listing my qualifications at all? Am I applying to be your blog writer? I’ll need to fix that section soon, not that anyone really reads it. I’m not even sure if I should have an “about me” up there.
I finally got around to watching Point Break today. I’ve wanted to watch it since I saw it parodied on Hot Fuzz, but never got around to it. My first impression is that it was a pretty ridiculous premise. The immortal Keanu Reeves plays FBI agent Johnny Utah, who goes undercover to infiltrate a group of professional bank robbers who are also surfers. The premise is only ridiculous because it completely defies all my preconceived notions of what a surfer and a bank robber is supposed to be like. All professional bank robbers, in my eyes, are supposed to be like the crew from Heat. They are incredibly disciplined, serious people who know the risks involved with their job and thus approach it with the appropriate level of intensity. Surfers, to me, are free-spirited people and I just don’t picture them being disciplined enough to rob a bank the way they do. When the theory that the bank robbers might be surfers is initially floated in the film, everyone laughs at the idea. They’re probably thinking the same thing. “Really? Surfers?” And the movie runs with the idea. When you meet the crew, you realize that, man, they really are your prototypical surfers. They’re impulsive adrenaline junkies who wake up at 5am to go surfing, and who go surfing in the middle of the night as well, because they can! And want to.
How does a group of people who live life so spontaneously, and impulsively, turn off that behaviour to be cold, precise bank robbers? I don’t see it. These aren’t personality traits that you can turn off. That’s not the craziest thing in the movie though, but I don’t really want to pick on this movie too much because it’s a popcorn flick, and on that level it succeeds. It’s fun to watch and not as cheesy as I thought it would be, and that skydiving sequence was fantastic. How anyone manages to have a conversation while skydiving is beyond me though.
