The Short-Lived Marathon...

Lets rewind a little bit, back to ole' freshman year...Back when I worked at Marathon Gas station in Charleston. 

I'll reflect on my two month career in that place where I worked a total of eight days.

Upon coming to Eastern I had no job, but had left over graduation money and that is what I lived off of for a few months until I found my way to Marathon. I had worked at a gas station for 2 and a half years back in my home town so I was a shoe-in. I went in for an interview and got the job. It was at the interview that I found out I would be working the midnight shift. I wasn't happy about it but at the same time I needed money and it was a job. I worked every Friday and Saturday night 10PM to 6AM. Every student on the EIU campus looked forward to enjoying their weekend, except me. 

Since I only worked two days a week it was hard to fully grasp how all the different machines worked like the Lotto Machine, the check machine, the phone card machine and certain things on the register. For my first two days I was was able to work with someone who trained me, after that weekend I was on my own. Since this is a 24 hour gas station at 2AM is when the entire system and computers "restart their day." This meant that I had TONS of reports that I had to print out on the little receipt paper and literally its a solid ten minutes where this machine is printing nonstop...meanwhile because it is printing reports I cannot ring anyone up and no one can get gas and I have to count out my drawer and swap it with a new drawert. Doesn't seem like a big deal...except ALL the bars close at 2AM so then I have all these people waiting and getting angry and drunk...and literally I can't do anything. 

So on my first night by myself this time comes around and everything is going well and I start printing and its going...and then someone comes up for gas (if you didn't know, every time the nozzle is picked up it makes this loud beeping sound inside for me to approve it) and I try to approve it and the register won't let me because it is doing all these reports. I tell the person on the intercom to hang the nozzle back up...beeping does not go away. Then the printer runs out of paper. Then I try and reload the printer and somehow do it backwards thus jamming it (it was that weird receipt paper that had the yellow and white pieces). Tons of people come in waiting. More people are trying to get gas and there is receipt paper ALL over the ground. About then I'm panicking on the inside because I'm all alone. I give in and call my manager waking him up and then 10 minutes later he comes in to save the day and I feel like an idiot and an  asshole for waking him up, and to top it off I am supposed to do it all over again the next night.

The next night goes great and then I went to McDonald's at 6AM for breakfast with my roommate.

Finally after I receive a call from the University Food Court and they want me to work there. (I had applied months earlier) After the interview they said they would hire me for the next semester. So after Christmas break I give Marathon my two weeks notice and I feel bad because they were all really nice, but I literally only worked there the last two weeks before break then had 3 weeks off for break and then worked my final two weeks. 

In the end there were no hard feelings and I still get my gas there and I've worked at the food court for almost 3 years now. OH and I now know almost all the songs on the Now 25 CD because that is all I could listen too when I was working 8 hours by myself...one time a customer caught me singing and that was awkward.

-Big D