Finding 35

4. Ice cream, Get Your Ice-cream Here!

My first night working at the Metro Centre was during an exhibition hockey game of two NHL teams.  I have no idea who was playing; all I know is that the arena was full!  There must have been about thirty teenagers of all sizes working and I was the smallest.  The older kids, who looked to be about twenty years old, sold event programs and souvenirs.  That meant they didn’t have to walk around the arena and generally had an easier time working, I think they made more money.  The rest of us were going to be working food.  Who would have thought there was so much strategy in the basket-boy business?  Interesting to note that I only ever saw one girl working food, or as a basket-boy.  I think the job description must have changed by now, something like sales concessions associate.

The Food Chain Hierarchy

Normally, there aren’t 30 kids working the arena one night.  Since there were so many of us, the youngest and the newest were on CHIPS.  Chips generally weren’t sold by the basket-boys.  Basket-boys make a 10% commission.  Chips are 50 cents a bag, so you make a nickel a bag, plus tips.  However back in 1985ish, a 25-cent tip was a lot, so you generally weren’t going to make a lot of tips.  As the two managers were sorting everyone out, we were told to find a jacket.  The uniform!  Well let me tell you I was excited until I was grossed out.  First, I never had a uniform before.  This was going to be so cool!  And second, they were dirty and filthy, and all around sticky.  Most of the jackets were covered in dried up ice cream, coated in crusty pop, and they smelled like something out of an old hockey bag that had been left in basement for the summer.  Most of jackets were huge on me.  I searched through the entire coat rack and found two sized ‘small’.  I took them out as they were equally dirty, and gave one to another young kid. 

I remember the person in charge of the basket boys was a woman, she was very nice, but she had a tough side to her too, but in a gentle sort of way.  I quickly realized the average kid working in a hockey arena was a lot rougher and tougher than me. We are in a hockey arena after all, that hosts rock concerts, car shows, and monster truck events.  The job is pretty physical and most of the teenagers in this group were not the sort of teenager I was used to hanging out with.  These kids were from all parts of the city, many parts I had never even been to before.  But many did have a bit of hustle to their step.  All these kids were tougher than me.  Basically, if I saw these kids in the mall, I would turn around and walk the other way.  But here, everyone is measured by how much stuff they sell.  Doesn’t matter how big you are, or how tough, everyone has the same jacket, and you work your way up and down the food chain.

As the doors opened, I was loaded up with my first case of potato chips in a giant Styrofoam container with a hard red plastic strap that cut into your arm.  Well it cut into my weak muscle free arm. They gave us all a float, change to make change, and we were off!

How this works is pretty simple.  At the beginning of a night 4 kids were on CHIPS.  At the end of the night the kid that sells the most CHIPS gets to move up to the next food item, and the remaining three kids have to sell chips the next night.  Since CHIPS are the worst item, there was nowhere to get demoted, however, the kid that sold the lease amount of POP (one step up from chips) gets demoted to CHIPS the next night.  Simply, the people that sell the most move up a spot, and the people that sell the least in their group, move down a spot.

That first night I didn’t walk down the isle, I ran!  I was a fast mover, me and my short but nimble legs compared to the other kids.  But one thing I had that no one else had was a high voice!  This would become my signature selling point while I worked at the Metro Center.

“CHIPS!  Get your POTATO CHIPS HERE!”  That is the best thing I could come up with.  There wasn’t a lot of job training in the CHIPS business.  You walked around screaming all night.  You may have noticed there are a lot of stairs in these places, and they are sort of oddly spaced.  Watch where you step or you could end up tumbling down the stands.