WEBVTT - A Brush with Fame

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<v Speaker 1>On the Job is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals.

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<v Speaker 1>today's job market. Express Nose Jobs, get to No Express,

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<v Speaker 1>Go to Express pros dot com. Welcome to on the Job.

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<v Speaker 1>This season, we're bringing you stories about people finding their

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<v Speaker 1>professional stride by virtue of who they know, whether it's

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<v Speaker 1>breathing new life into an age old profession, taking the

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<v Speaker 1>reins in a family business, forging your own path with

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<v Speaker 1>a new idea, or landing the perfect job doing something

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<v Speaker 1>you'd never before even considered. Avery Thompson grew up in

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<v Speaker 1>Long Island. Today he's a writer and radio producer, but

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<v Speaker 1>his past is fraught with jobs that spanned the globe

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<v Speaker 1>and made him into the person he is today. He

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<v Speaker 1>was a ski lift operator in Colorado, a line cook

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<v Speaker 1>in Zurich. He's bailed Hey in New Hampshire Today. A

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<v Speaker 1>story from his early life as he pursued his dream

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<v Speaker 1>of being a filmmaker. Like most twenty year olds, I

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<v Speaker 1>had delusions grandeur. My particular delusion was that I was

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<v Speaker 1>going to be a film director, and not just any

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<v Speaker 1>film director. I wanted to be the next Orson Welles,

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<v Speaker 1>but with a little the show. Besides some zany no

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<v Speaker 1>budget student films. Believe it or not, no studio had

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<v Speaker 1>yet handed me a blank check. So if I intended

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<v Speaker 1>to direct my next film, I would need to fund

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<v Speaker 1>it with my own money. In other words, I needed

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<v Speaker 1>a summer job. I quit golf caddying after two days.

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<v Speaker 1>FedEx didn't think I was overnight box order material to

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<v Speaker 1>work at the local movie theater would have been too

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<v Speaker 1>large a slice of humble pie, and so I called

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<v Speaker 1>my friend Matt, another film buff, and complained about how

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<v Speaker 1>the world didn't recognize my genius, how my talents were

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<v Speaker 1>being squandered looking for a job. Then Matt said, well,

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<v Speaker 1>we can work for my brother. He owns a landscape

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<v Speaker 1>and company in the Hamptons. The Hamptons, I repeated. The

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<v Speaker 1>following Monday, Matt and I talked about movies for the

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<v Speaker 1>whole two hour drive out to the Hamptons, and as

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<v Speaker 1>the roads gave way to leafy lanes and mansions rose

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<v Speaker 1>above tall hedges, I knew we were exactly where I

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<v Speaker 1>needed to be. Here were the people that would change

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<v Speaker 1>my life. These people had taste, they had class connections,

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<v Speaker 1>but most importantly, they had the money I needed to

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<v Speaker 1>direct my masterpiece. I could already see myself smoking a

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<v Speaker 1>cigar and yelling action. So you can imagine my shock

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<v Speaker 1>when we pulled up to a barn and we're told

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<v Speaker 1>by Matt's brother to get in the back of a

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<v Speaker 1>pickup truck with a bunch of weather worn Latino men.

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<v Speaker 1>For the first few weeks, Matt and I met no celebrities,

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<v Speaker 1>We attended no parties. We worked like dogs as rich

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<v Speaker 1>old ladies eyed us suspiciously from curtained windows. We dug trenches,

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<v Speaker 1>we built fences. We were told to work faster and

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<v Speaker 1>talk about Fellini less, and all the while no one

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<v Speaker 1>recognized the geniuses toiling in their backyard. No one even

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<v Speaker 1>brought us lemonade. Despite being the future of filmmaking, Matt

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<v Speaker 1>and I were being treated like a bunch of day labors,

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<v Speaker 1>except by our coworkers, day labors who didn't appreciate these

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<v Speaker 1>two pale giants who talked about wide angle lenses and

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<v Speaker 1>stopped every now and then to drink water. And worst

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<v Speaker 1>of all, these co workers wouldn't take us to lunch

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<v Speaker 1>with them. Instead, every day, on their way to some

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<v Speaker 1>secret Latin food layer, Matt and I would get dropped

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<v Speaker 1>off in the village of East Hampton, quite possibly the

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<v Speaker 1>richest postious town in America. We're the only thing we

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<v Speaker 1>could afford was pizza, and not even good pizza, because,

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<v Speaker 1>let's face it wasps don't know how to make pizza,

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<v Speaker 1>so every day we ate crappy pizza. And let me

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<v Speaker 1>tell you, for a New Yorker, few things are worse.

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<v Speaker 1>But one thing sustained me that summer. For all the

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<v Speaker 1>blisters and back aches, I held that hope that it

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<v Speaker 1>was only a matter of time before I met the

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<v Speaker 1>right people. One day Jerry Seinfeld would need a new walkway,

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<v Speaker 1>or Robert de Niro would need his roses cut back,

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<v Speaker 1>and somehow I figured that would be all it took.

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<v Speaker 1>But that didn't happen. As the weeks wore on, Matt

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<v Speaker 1>and I talked of films less and less. We started

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<v Speaker 1>crying more and more, and just when we thought it

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't get any worse, we got the job from hell.

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<v Speaker 1>Our task was the paint a quarter mile fence wedged

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<v Speaker 1>between two strands of overgrown holly bushes. Now, for those

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<v Speaker 1>of you that don't know, holly bushes have little prickly thorns,

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<v Speaker 1>and as a grown man, I don't have a problem

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<v Speaker 1>saying that thorns really hurt. So the only way that

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<v Speaker 1>Matt and I were able to paint this fence without

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<v Speaker 1>blooding our backs was the jam a piece of plywood

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<v Speaker 1>in there, lean against it, and brush just in front

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<v Speaker 1>of us, which worked some of the time. When it didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>If we tripped or got a little tired, then the

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<v Speaker 1>holly bush would shove us against the fence that we

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<v Speaker 1>had just painted, and that happened a lot. By lunchtime,

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<v Speaker 1>Matt and I were covered in green paint. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>covered head to toe, and when the truck arrived to

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<v Speaker 1>pick us up for lunch, the Latino guys can't help themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>They slapped their knees and laughed big gold tooth laughs

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<v Speaker 1>right in our face. And then they drop us off

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<v Speaker 1>in the center of East Hampton. We'll get back to

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<v Speaker 1>the story in a second. First, a word from Express

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<v Speaker 1>Employment Professionals. A strong work ethic takes pride in a

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<v Speaker 1>job well done. This is you. But to get an

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<v Speaker 1>honest day's work, you need a callback. You need a job.

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<v Speaker 1>Express Employment Professionals can help. We'll connect you to the

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<v Speaker 1>right company. We're committed to your success and never charge

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<v Speaker 1>a fee to find you a job. Express Nose Jobs

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<v Speaker 1>get to No Express find your location at express pros

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<v Speaker 1>dot com or on the Express Jobs app. And now

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<v Speaker 1>back to our story. Before we can even climb out

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<v Speaker 1>of the truck, people were staring. Not that I blame them.

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<v Speaker 1>We were two life sized g I. Joe figures, and

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<v Speaker 1>as such, our mission was to reach the public restroom

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<v Speaker 1>to wash this paint off. Except when we get there,

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<v Speaker 1>the paint doesn't come off. And I want to reiterate,

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<v Speaker 1>we're covered. Matt, who is six four bor an uncanny

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<v Speaker 1>resemblance to the Jolly Green Giant. I looked more like Gumby.

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<v Speaker 1>So Matt called his brother, who informed us the paint

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<v Speaker 1>thinner would take it right off. But we were on

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<v Speaker 1>Main Street in East Hampton, whose shops weren't exactly stocked

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<v Speaker 1>with paint thinner. So then Matt's brother says, the gasoline

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<v Speaker 1>would do the trick. Yeah, gasoline. So Gumby and the

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<v Speaker 1>Jolly Green Giant go walking through a living Jay Crewe

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<v Speaker 1>catalog in search of a gas station. Let me tell you,

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<v Speaker 1>being laughed at by a bunch of our day labor

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<v Speaker 1>co workers was one thing, But to be laughed at

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<v Speaker 1>by people wearing boat shoes and pastel pants, that's a

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<v Speaker 1>pain that sticks with you. After a few blocks, Matt

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<v Speaker 1>and I find a gas station and then we start

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<v Speaker 1>rummaging through the garbage because obviously we need something to

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<v Speaker 1>put the gasoline in. We find an empty gatorade bottle

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<v Speaker 1>beneath a rotten sandwich and then pumped thirty cents of

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<v Speaker 1>gas into it, and then we pour the gas all

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<v Speaker 1>over us. And I know what you're thinking, that's not

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<v Speaker 1>a good idea. But this story doesn't end with self immolation.

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<v Speaker 1>Well not literally, because as Matt and I stand in

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<v Speaker 1>this parking lot, our bodies covered in a toxic smere

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<v Speaker 1>of gasoline and paint, one of the most beautiful cars

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<v Speaker 1>I have ever seen pulls up beside us, and we

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<v Speaker 1>look up to see a familiar face, gray beard, round glasses.

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<v Speaker 1>I'd know that face anywhere. That's that's Stephen Stephen. Matt

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<v Speaker 1>yells at Steven Spielberg, and Matt, who now resembles the

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<v Speaker 1>creature from the Black Lagoon, starts running towards the car

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<v Speaker 1>and screaming at him. Stephen. Now, I don't know if

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<v Speaker 1>Steven Spielberg saw us or not, but I do know

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<v Speaker 1>that he didn't stop. He kept right on going. But

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<v Speaker 1>Stephen didn't go far because down the street we see

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<v Speaker 1>his break lights. Come on, Come on, Matt shouts, running

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<v Speaker 1>back to the pump for more gas. Pump, more gas.

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<v Speaker 1>Steven's getting pizza. We can catch him, but I don't.

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<v Speaker 1>I may have been only twenty, but that summer I

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<v Speaker 1>learned that no amount of gasoline would help Steven Spielberg

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<v Speaker 1>or anyone else see through to the genius underneath. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>I walked over to the little convenience store attached to

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<v Speaker 1>the gas station. I bought a Snickers bar from my

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<v Speaker 1>lunch and I decided screw movies. I'm going to be

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<v Speaker 1>a writer instead. This piece was written by Avery Thompson

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by me Otis Gray. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>of Avery's work at Avery H. Thompson dot com. We'll

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<v Speaker 1>have a link over on our website, Express Pros dot

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<v Speaker 1>com slash podcast. Thanks for listening to On the Job,

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<v Speaker 1>brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. Find out more

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<v Speaker 1>at Express pros dot com. This season of On the

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<v Speaker 1>Job is produced by Audiation and Red Seat Ventures. Our

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<v Speaker 1>executive producer is Sandy Smallens. Our producer is Otis Gray.

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<v Speaker 1>The show is mixed by Matt Noble at The Loft

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<v Speaker 1>in Bronxville, New York. Find us on I Heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>and Apple Podcasts. If you liked what you heard, please

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<v Speaker 1>consider rating or reviewing the show on Apple Podcasts or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen. We'll see you next time. For more

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<v Speaker 1>inspiring stories about discovering your life's work, Ariation