14. Opening Day 2005

Over the past 14 years I have had a number of wonderful experiences at America’s Classic Ballpark and I am sure season 15 will bring even more. Even with everything that has happened and that I have been able to do, I can still remember my first day at the stadium as though it was yesterday.

It was in April of 2005. I was in high school and my only previous job had been as a counselor at a summer arts camp for a month. I was excited to work at the ballpark because I loved being at games and my two older sisters made it sound like so much fun. I was also extremely nervous.

That night I was scheduled to work in the Grand Slam Grill, which at that time was one of two main stands located in the right field food court. After being led to the stand and introduced to the supervisor, I remember standing awkwardly in the corner not knowing what to do. Eventually someone took pity on me and gave me a job.

“You can come with us to get the registers.”

What?

I thought maybe I had misheard him, so I followed a few people out of the stand and across the food court to a storage closet located under the right field bleachers. I was at the back of the group and when I finally got to the door of the closet, I was told to pick up one of the large cash registers on the shelf and carry it back to the stand.

Sure, why not.

So there was little old me, on my first night at a new job lugging a cash register across an open food court, praying I didn’t drop the thing. I’m not sure how much those registers actually weighed, more than the flat screen tablets we use now I am sure, but somehow I made it back to the stand with no problems. Thankfully, the food court back then was not as large as the plaza is now.

Honestly, I don’t remember much about that night after carrying the register to the stand. I know that I was put on soda duty, which meant that all I had to do all night was stand next to a register and fill drink orders as they came in. I also know that I was set up at the soda fountain right next to the bell that was rung every time someone order a Grand Slammer, which was pretty often, so it was a very loud night. Other than that, I don’t remember who the Reading Phillies were playing or who won the game, and I honestly don’t remember what I was feeling at the end of the night. I must have had a good time, because I’ve been at the ballpark every summer since then.

I will say that I have only worked one other game in the Grand Slam Grill and, no offense to anyone who likes working in the grill, it was rather begrudgingly. I quickly discovered that the grill stand was not the place for me, and not long after that fateful first night I found my way up to the Longstrike Deck Stand where I would spend the next few years before a brief stint selling pizza, two years outside of concessions as an intern, and finally making it to the Upstairs Ice Cream (UIC) stand.

Confessional: What is one thing that you remember about your first day at a new job? Did you have fun? Learn something new?