STRESSFUL TIMES AT THE CINÉPLEX

Safia Ahmad, reporting intern

I was 15 years old when I got my first summer job. While most of my friends were busy having fun, I was eager — eager — to be independent and an adult.

The idea of paying for my own things and being responsible didn’t scare me like it does now, at the age of 24.

In July 2008, I started working at the Cinéplex Forum, then known as AMC Theatre. I was both excited and nervous. Most of the employees were at least 18, and had been working there for years — long enough to form cliques. Talk about intimidating for a hormonal and insecure teenager.

Thankfully, a friend of mine also got hired. Unfortunately, we never worked together.

We had a uniform: red polo, black high-waisted pants and a black baseball cap. I felt like the biggest dork ever.

The job itself wasn’t difficult, but when you already don’t feel confident and everything is new, even the simplest things — like ripping tickets and telling people what room their movie is in — were stressful.

Burning the popcorn at the concession stand — which happened on my first try — made me want to avoid the concession area all together. Every time I received my schedule, I would pray to be assigned anywhere but there.

Over time, I got used to the job and the people. Plus, I got to see free movies, so that was pretty cool.

Socially, I was never sure where I stood until I quit four months later to focus on school. On my last day, a few employees bought me a chocolate cake and made me a card. I was truly touched. What a great way to end my first job.

DAVE SIDAWAY Safia Ahmad poses in front of the Cinéplex Forum, which was known as the AMC Theatre when she got her first job there as “a hormonal and insecure teenager.”