On Saturday, September 24, we will be hearing stories about work, labor, tasks, and even relaxation in our Labor Day Stories show, live, in-person at The Auld Shebeen, in Fairfax City, VA, and streaming online.
Tickets are on sale now!
Since the best stories are often about the worst experiences (a great organization I know even has a tagline of “Life is better in the telling” to emphasize that point), I thought it would be fun to hear about some great work experiences instead. So I asked emcee Bonnie Gardner and storytellers Bill Grella, Lou Novak, Antwan Perry, Jack Scheer, Klyde Siegfriedt, and Aimee Snow to “tell me about one of your favorite jobs.” Here’s what they had to say on the subject…
Bonnie Gardner: In high school, I had a part-time job shelving books at the public library, but one summer when one of the bookmobile librarians went on maternity leave, I filled in. It ended up being my favorite job ever — bringing books and media to shut-in seniors (who sometimes fed us cookies and lemonade), moms at home with young kids, and folks in the most remote and impoverished areas of our rural region, who lacked transportation to get to the library. I loved to see the excitement when the bookmobile would rattle down a road and folks would rush out of their houses. Like an ice cream truck, but with books!
Bill Grella: All my life I wanted to work and be around airliners. When I finally got on with Piedmont (my first airline job) I was in heaven! Working around them was awesome to this kid! My favorite thing was guiding the planes into and out of the gates, for me it was pure joy!
I can’t go on because – SPOILERS.
Lou Novak: The job I loved the most was being a River Guide at a High Adventure Base. I loved it because I loved paddling on the rivers, working with young people, and showing natural beauty.
Nothing like communing with nature and the young – all while getting some exercise!
Antwan Perry: As it relates to a job I have held that I loved most and why? It was my first job in education. I, a fresh college graduate with a degree in political science, was hired to teach math to students repeating the 9th grade for the 2nd or 3rd or 4th time. While I thought it would be difficult to connect with the students or gain their respect because I was so young, I had a blast! Since I was younger, they listened to me, we dance battled, laughed at the same jokes, and to my surprise and theirs, I taught them math! Many of these students I still speak with today….15+ years later.
Jack Scheer: While I was in college I worked for three years at Northern Lights Bookstore in DeKalb, IL. We were the funky bookstore in town – we carried comic books, role-playing games, and zines alongside general interest books. We had impressive visual arts and New Age sections as well. The owner was incredibly kind and caring, and the camaraderie among the staff was excellent. There are days I would give almost anything to run that register again.
If you own a bookstore and want Jack to pay you to work there, find him at jzscheer on instagram and twitter
Klyde Siegfriedt: My favorite job was running a bookstore. I loved my staff and customers and of course all the books. As a die hard bibliophile, it was a place I always enjoyed going to work, interacting with my staff, customers and authors. Even though there were days I hated, most days were great…..even during Christmas. Bookstore customers tend to be a different breed of customers and are usually in a good mood-even at Christmas.
Aimee Snow: I worked at Blockbuster Video after college. I loved recommending movies to people and I realized I was really good at multitasking and dealing with the public.
Ah, yes, Blockbuster video. We’ll have to explain to the kids at home what that was and why I was excited to go there every Friday night for many years.
Now that you’ve got a sense of what kinds of jobs our storytellers have loved, join us on September 24th to see them working it!
Our show starts at 7:00 P.M. Eastern. Doors open at 6:00pm. In-person at The Auld Shebeen in Fairfax, VA, and streaming online. Tickets here – or at the door.
The Auld Shebeen is located at 3971 Chain Bridge Rd., Fairfax, VA 22030. Better Said Than Done performs DOWNSTAIRS. The entrance is located on North St. A full dinner and bar menu are available.
PS – as for me, your friendly blogger, my favorite job was working at Steve’s Comic Relief, in my hometown, during summer’s off from college. Most of the time I was completely alone in a large room filled with comic books. That’s where I fell in love with Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, J.M. DeMatteis and many other great, male writers. I’d like to say that’s where I dreamed of becoming a comic book writer, but mostly I just wanted to be a character.
