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The Movie Theater Toilet Went Boom
I have many fond memories of my favorite college job, working in the Squire triplex movie theater in Great Neck. Like any low-level employment, there were tasks I did not particularly enjoy, such as cleaning out the auditoriums between screenings. It got especially bad during school or holiday vacations, when the building was packed with patrons driven ravenous to see the latest blockbuster release.
Definitely the oddest thing to happen was when a toilet exploded while I took a bathroom break. But let me backtrack a little.
The Squire totaled less than 1,100 seats in its three badly-divided screening rooms. Based on those dimensions, it was the perfect place for one of the senior vice presidents to “stash” his girlfriend Dory as theater manager. She had a full-time job with a base of operations whenever he wanted to pop in for an afternoon quickie (whenever he was in the neighborhood).
Managers were poorly compensated but received 10% from the sales at the concession stand. Dory closely watched the daily cash totals for signs of financial hanky panky. She was distraught and disappointed when she needed to fire one of the clerks for “recycling” popcorn containers. Yes, it was unsanitary and illegal. But it also hurt her bottom line as each sale took money from her pocketbook.
