For some, Barbie lasted roughly about four days. For me it’s been 3 weeks, 6 days, and 2,365,219 seconds. This summer consisted of long, tiresome days at my job at Cinemark. Nothing compares to how I felt during BarbenHeimer weekend. At first, I was as excited as anyone could be, and I reassured myself that it was just going to be a little busier than usual that weekend; Lord was I wrong. That morning I woke up, ate breakfast, walked my dogs, and did my laundry. I think the best part of the day was getting ready for work. I remember decorating my visor with the cutest pink gems I think I have ever seen. I wore pink eyeshadow and sparkly pink lip gloss, but honestly no amount of pink outfits or pink sparkly makeup could’ve saved me from the amount of people that would soon storm the lobby in bejeweled pink clothes.
Just to put in perspective of how many people came to watch Barbie, our typical numbers are around 1,000 for an entire day. On July 21st, the total number was roughly about 3,000. From the moment I clocked in to the moment I clocked out, it was as if I was the main character in the hunger games. The storming of the capitol (Cinemark) began at 7: 15 pm, and from this point on, it was as if the hounds of hell had just escaped. The lobby was flooded with people at all times, there were pieces of popcorn in what seemed to be every corner of Cinemark, and the lines were never-ending. The environment that day was one of stress and even more stress, and everybody at work looked miserable (including myself).
My job in general is not really that hard. I serve popcorn, clean, and adhere to the needs of the customers I attend. For some reason everything just became so difficult on that day. I spent the entire day regretting not calling in sick to work and wishing I was laying on my couch eating pizza without a care in the world. Now, after almost a month of Barbie, the photo ops are gone but the traumatizing aspect of the experience lingers.