Catherine's New Job
Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur or any of its characters or content from the series. The characters and etc. from Arthur belong to Marc Brown, PBS, WGBH, and Cookie Jar (formerly CINAR).
One Friday in June, 17-year-old Catherine Frensky couldn't wait to get a job. She never had a job before. She had recently graduated from high school, having skipped junior year. She was just about to leave her family's apartment. Her sister, 9-year-old Francine was watching Bionic Bunny; their mother, Laverne was cleaning their apartment; and her and Francine's father, Oliver was working at the Elwood City Dump. Catherine picked up a set of keys on the key rack by the front door, in which the set included the car keys and the apartment key.
"I'll see you later," Catherine called as she was walking out the apartment door.
"Bye," said Francine and Laverne.
Then Catherine headed down the hallway, down the stairs, and out the door of the complex. She walked over to her family's full-sized 4-door sedan in the Westboro Apartments parking lot. On the exterior, the car was brown with two red lines around it, dual circular headlamps, rectangle taillights, and old-style wheel rims; on the interior, the seats were red, the ignition and gear shift were mounted on the steering column, and the windows on the doors were operated by rotating the crank. Catherine then unlocked the car door with the car door key, opened the door, stepped inside the car, and closed the door. She put the ignition key in the ignition and began to start the car. While she was starting the car, the engine was clicking, and all she had to do was to rapidly pump the accelerator in order for it to start and run. Then she put the car in gear and headed for the Sugar Bowl that was a few blocks away.
When Catherine reached the Sugar Bowl, she parked into the parking lot, shut off the engine, stepped out of the car, and walked into the Sugar Bowl. Inside the Sugar Bowl, there was a white CRT monitor hooked into the cash register. As she walked into the Sugar Bowl, she walked up to the counter and picked up an application form from a stacked pile of applications. She then left the Sugar Bowl and went home.
Back at the apartment, Catherine went to her and Francine's room at sat at the desk where the grey computer was and started filling out the application with a black ink pen. As she was filling out the application, she was going to work on the weekdays from 11 AM until 5 PM, and that the weekends were her days off. When she finished filling out the application she was ready to submit it at the Sugar Bowl.
Catherine then left her apartment and went back to the Sugar Bowl to submit the application. She walked inside, walked over to the counter, and handed the application to one of the employees of the Sugar Bowl. Then she left the Sugar Bowl and went back to her apartment.
As Catherine came home, she put the set of keys back on the key rack. Catherine then walked into her and Francine's bedroom.
"Well," said Catherine, "when I start working the Sugar Bowl, it will be really fun."
"Great," said Francine. "Maybe Arthur and the others can even meet you there, like when you wait on tables and serve."
"Yeah," said Catherine, "but we can't have long conversations while we're at work. We're supposed to do the jobs the manager tells us to do."
"Oh, right," said Francine.
"We need to do jobs like bussing tables, waiting on customers, serving customers, cleaning the floors, washing dishes, and such," Catherine explained. "And the part that can be a bit tricky is when you use the cash register."
"Really?" said Francine.
"Well," said Catherine, "the hard part about using the cash register is that you need to calculate things correctly, use the correct categories per items, use the VOID key if there is a mistake, and that you should use the AMOUNT TENDERED key at the right time. But I can sure figure out things very well."
"Yeah," said Francine.
"And you remember from my graduation party when someone predicted I was going to college like most people do after they graduate from high school, but that it's pretty expensive?" said Catherine.
Catherine started thinking back a few weeks ago about her graduation party.
At Catherine's graduation party that was hosted on May 29th, there were party balloons and other decorations around. Arthur and his friends, plus the parents, and the people that were Catherine's high school friends were at the party. Francine and Laverne were serving the cakes while Oliver was talking to Muffy's father Ed.
"Wow," said Buster, after he took a bite of a slice of cake. "You must be ready for college."
"I hate to tell you this, Buster," said Catherine, "but my parents can't afford college."
"Buster," said Arthur in disbelief after he swallowed a bite of the cake. "Now how can someone go to college when their parents can't afford it?"
Arthur knew it wasn't his business, though Catherine explained already that college was too expensive.
Back to the present after Catherine was thinking back about her party, Francine had a response.
"Yeah," said Francine. "It was a fun party, and that Mama and I were serving cakes."
"Yeah," said Catherine. "And, college is way too expensive. It can like often cost like up to $20,000 or more. That is one big rip-off."
"Yeah," said Francine. "And when I wanted a new bike, I'm sad we couldn't afford it, and that was another rip-off."
"I know," said Catherine. "And getting a new or used car in good condition is a complete rip-off, and the only cars we usually can get are just directly from the salvage yards, like someone was going to discard that car, but that the engine could still run and someone needed a car."
The next day, Catherine left her family's apartment and headed for the Sugar Bowl for an interview. As she walked inside, she asked to see manager, Carl Manino for an interview. She met Carl of the Sugar Bowl and shook his hand, happy to meet him. Then Catherine and Carl walked into the office for a discussion. While Catherine was at an interview with Carl, she answered the questions very well. At the end of the interview, she shook the Carl's hand. The interview lasted for almost ten minutes.
Four days later, Catherine became employed at the Sugar Bowl and received a work uniform. On her first day at work, she was in training with Carl on how to bus tables, wait on tables, clean up, communicate with customers, use the cash register, and etc. By the time Catherine had all the training, she starting doing the duties by herself. She swept the floors, mopped the floors, bussed tables, and she even washed the glasses and silverware. Then she waited on tables and served the customers just what they asked for. Her hourly wage was $8.
The next day at 3:00 P.M., Jane Read and Bitzi Baxter came to the Sugar Bowl in the Read family's purple 4-door station wagon. Jane was driving and Bitzi sat in the front seat with Jane. The two mothers then walked into the Sugar Bowl. They were each carrying a purse: Jane's purse was pink and Bitzi's purse was turquoise. The two both sat in a booth and as they sat in the booth, Jane and Bitzi were sitting on opposite sides, facing each other. They were having a conversation with each other. Just then, Catherine walked over to the booth that Jane and Bitzi were sitting at.
"Hello," said Catherine, holding a notepad and pencil. "What can I get for you two?"
"I would like a strawberry shake," said Jane.
"Strawberry shake," whispered Catherine, writing on the notepad.
"I'll have a blueberry smoothie," said Bitzi.
"Blueberry smoothie," whispered Catherine, writing on the notepad.
"All right, I'll be right back with your drinks," Catherine continued.
Then Catherine headed to the kitchen and took out the slip from the notepad and showed it to another girl, who was also one of the employees. Catherine was making the shake for Jane while the other girl was making the smoothie for Bitzi. Then Catherine put whipping cream on top of the shake, and a red cherry on top of the whipping cream. Then she put in a straw in both glasses. Catherine then picked up both glasses and walked out of the kitchen. She walked to the booth where Jane and Bitzi were and put the beverages on the table.
"Thanks," said Jane and Bitzi.
"My pleasure," replied Catherine. "Enjoy."
Then Catherine headed back to the kitchen. Jane and Bitzi were drinking their beverages while Catherine had some more duties to do.
"I'm so glad that Buster is working harder than ever," said Bitzi.
"I'm glad to hear that," said Jane. "And I'm glad that Arthur has been helping him a lot."
The mothers both finished the beverages in eight minutes. Then Catherine came back to them after she did some cleaning work.
"Would you like some more?" asked Catherine.
"Yes please," said Jane and Bitzi.
Then Catherine picked up the two glasses and headed to the kitchen. The next minute, Catherine carried two beverage glasses in her hands and
walked back to the booth where Jane and Bitzi were at, and put the beverages on the table.
"Thanks," said Jane and Bitzi.
"My pleasure," replied Catherine.
In nine minutes later, after Jane and Bitzi finished their beverages, Catherine came to the booth where Jane and Bitzi were at and placed the receipt on the table. The total cost was $9.34, which was $4.86 for the strawberry shake and $4.48 for the blueberry smoothie. Jane and Bitzi split their bills as they paid, and included the tip. After they paid, they stood from the booth and were heading out of the Sugar Bowl.
"See you again some time," said Catherine, waving to Jane and Bitzi.
"Yeah, nice to see you," said Jane and Bitzi.
As the two mothers left the Sugar Bowl, Catherine started cleaning up after them.
Six minutes later, Wanda Deegan and her daughters, 11-year-old Prunella and 19-year-old Rubella came to the Sugar Bowl in her sky blue 1986 Oldsmobile Delta 88 4-door sedan. Wanda was driving, Rubella sat in the front seat with Wanda, and Prunella sat in the rear seat behind Rubella. Wanda, Rubella, and Prunella all stepped out of the car and walked into the Sugar Bowl. Wanda was carrying a sky blue purse on her shoulder. The three sat in a booth, and as they sat in the booth, Prunella and Rubella were both sitting together on one side, and Wanda sat on the opposite side of the girls, plus Prunella sat next to the window. They were all having a conversation together. In fifteen seconds, Catherine walked over to the booth where the Deegans were sitting at. As the Deegans were ordering, Catherine wrote down exactly what they were each ordering: Wanda ordered a cappuccino, Rubella ordered a strawberry shake, and Prunella ordered a vanilla shake.
As Catherine headed to the kitchen, she took out the slip and showed it to the other two girls that were working there. One girl was doing the cappuccino, another girl was doing the strawberry shake, and Catherine was doing the vanilla shake. Then Catherine put whipping cream on top of the two shakes, then put a cherry on top of the whipping cream in each shake, and then she put a straw in all three glasses, then put the three beverages on the serving tray, and headed to the booth where the Deegans were sitting at, and put the beverages on the table, one-by-one.
"Thanks," said Wanda, after Catherine put the cappuccino on the table in front of her.
"Thanks," said Rubella, after Catherine put the strawberry smoothie on the table in front of her.
"Thanks," said Prunella, after Catherine put the vanilla smoothie on the table in front of her.
"My pleasure," replied Catherine. "Enjoy."
Then Catherine carried the tray back to the kitchen. Meanwhile, as she was washing the glasses and dishes with some of the other employees, she and the other employees could hear the manager of the Sugar Bowl disappointed about a boy who was not being a respectful employee.
"Young man!" scolded Carl. "Come into my office, right now!"
The unhappy boy became nervous after Carl called him into his office. Carl then closed the door of his office.
"What is it, sir?" said the boy, feeling clumsy.
"This is so ridiculous that you're not doing what I asked you to do," said Carl with a disappointed look on his face.
"But sir," said the boy, "you don't have to lose or patience…"
"But I have to," said Carl. "You're slacking off too much."
"I am not," said the boy. "I you're just making things hard for me to…"
"Enough!" said Carl. "You've been working really slow, you've been getting all the orders mixed up…"
"But I didn't mean to…" the boy interrupted.
"You've been cleaning the floors the way you preferred…" Carl continued.
"But it doesn't really matter which way…" the boy interrupted.
"You've been bussing the tables too slow…" Carl continued.
"It doesn't matter," the boy interrupted, "you do a better job if more slowly, because…"
"AND, you've been miscalculating too much with the cash register!" Carl continued.
"Actually, I think there must be something wrong with the cash register," said the boy.
"I don't know what to do with you" said Carl, putting his hand on the top of his head. "You are fired."
"Oh yeah?" said the boy. "Maybe you should fire yourself for losing all the patience. Take that."
"Just leave here and never come back," said Carl. "You've ruined everything."
"Whatever," said the boy. "I think you have a lousy brain."
Catherine and the other employees in the kitchen felt annoyed when they could hear Carl's shouting from the office, but still with the door closed. Just then, that one boy who had just recently been fired walked out of the office, angry and shedding a tear.
Come on, thought Catherine, just because Carl is angry or disappointed doesn't mean he's being mean to the employees. He just wants people to do their jobs the way he expects them to do it.
Then the fired employee was about to head out the door. He stopped and became furious and was about to say what was on his mind.
"THAT IS THE WORST MANAGER I'VE EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!" shouted the boy, looking up at the ceiling with his arms out wide. "CAN'T ANYONE FIND A NICER MANAGER THAN CARL MANINO WHO HAS TO BE BOSSY AND RUDE?"
The Deegans and the other customers, plus the employees looked at the boy who did all the shouting across the restaurant, with a disappointed look on their faces. Then the fired boy stormed out of the Sugar Bowl and slammed the door, much to everyone's annoyance.
Six minutes later, the Deegans had finished their beverages. Then Catherine came back to the Deegans after she did some duties.
"Would you like some more?" asked Catherine.
"Yes please," the Deegans replied.
Then Catherine picked up the three glasses and headed to the kitchen. The next minute, she came back with the three beverage glasses on the tray, and put the beverages on the table, one-by-one.
"Thanks," Wanda, Rubella, and Prunella said.
"My pleasure," said Catherine.
In eight minutes later, after the Deegans finished their beverages, Catherine came to the booth where the Deegans were sitting at and placed the receipt on the table. The total cost was $15.49, which was $5.82 for the cappuccino, $4.86 for the strawberry shake, and $4.81 for the vanilla shake. Wanda paid the bills, plus the tip. After Wanda paid, she and her daughters stood up and were leaving the Sugar Bowl.
"Thanks for coming," said Catherine, waving to the Deegans.
"Yeah, nice seeing you," said Wanda, waving back to Catherine, and the daughters waved too.
As the Deegans left the Sugar Bowl, Catherine started cleaning up after them.
Later, after 5:00 P.M., Catherine came home.
"How was work?" asked Francine.
"Work was great," said Catherine. "But there was something strange going on."
"What was it?" asked Francine.
"Well," explained Catherine. "I heard Carl have a controversy with an employee who wasn't doing his job he was expecting. I couldn't believe I could hear a manager like Carl get so disappointed and fire them."
"Oh," said Francine. "That's not good. I hope that that whoever's fired can find a new job he can rely on."
"I bet," said Catherine.
Later at night, Francine and Catherine were getting ready for bed. Francine was wearing her pajamas that involved a number 1 on her top, and Catherine was wearing a sky blue nightdress.
"Would the manager dismiss someone if they accidentally broke glasses or anything else at work?" whispered Catherine.
Then Catherine started dreaming in her sleep. There was Catherine at the Sugar Bowl. She started cleaning up the glasses from one of the tables and headed to the kitchen. As she walked into the kitchen, she tripped and fell frontwards and dropped the glasses, which fell to the floor with a crash.
"Whoops!" said Catherine. "My bad."
After the glasses broke, there were shards and a mess of the beverages. Catherine put a pair of orange gloves, picked up the shards, and threw them in the trash. Then she took off the gloves, picked up a rag, wet it in the sink with soap, and ran to the mess that was created. She started wiping down the mess. Just then, Carl stepped out of the office and walked over to Catherine.
"CATHERINE FRENSKY!" scolded Carl.
"Yes sir?" said Catherine, nervously.
"You dropped the glasses on the floor and they broke, didn't you?" scolded Carl. "DIDN'T YOU?"
"I'm sorry," said Catherine. "It was just an accident."
"Even if it was an accident, that's just as bad!" scolded Carl.
"But Mr. Manino, I wouldn't do such a thing," said Catherine.
"Enough of this, Miss Frensky!" scolded Carl. "That does it! You're fired!"
"Fired?" said Catherine. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You are obviously joking. I've done absolutely nothing wrong."
"SHUT UP!" shouted Carl. "YOU'RE FIRRRRRRRED!"
"No, you shut up!" yelled Catherine, pointing at his face. "I'm not fired! YOU'RE FIRED!"
"JUST GET OUT OF HERE YOU LOUSY LITTLE EARWIG!" shouted Carl.
"No, please, no!" complained Catherine.
Then Carl burst out wicked laughter.
"Oh!" scoffed Catherine.
As Carl was laughing, the ceiling started crumbling, and stalactites started growing out of the ceiling. Catherine quickly headed for the door. Then she ran right out of the Sugar Bowl in a flash. She panted for a few seconds. Outside, the sky was purple and had dark clouds around, the wind was howling, and Elwood City looked more horrific than ever. As Catherine walked onto the street, the sign on the Sugar Bowl building fell off and landed with a knock, and there were monstrous eyes at where the sign used to be hanging.
"Gosh, this is not real!" said Catherine.
Then Catherine quickly ran to the car and stepped inside. Then she was starting the car, but that the engine was clicking.
"Come on. Start, start up!" said Catherine.
Then she started pumping on the accelerator rapidly. Then the engine started running, and then she put the car in gear, and quickly stepped on the accelerator and headed back to her family's apartment.
As she came back to the Westboro Apartments, she saw a bunch of furniture, electronics, and lamps being thrown out of the window of her family's apartment.
"Oh no!" cried Francine, Laverne, and Oliver, looking at all the stuff being thrown out of the window.
"This can't be happening!" complained Catherine.
As Catherine stepped out of the car, a check flew right to her, and then she looked at the check, and it was stamped "BAD CHECK" in red.
"Bad check?" Catherine read in disbelief. "That is a dirty lie! Obviously."
Then Catherine tore the check into shreds and ran over to her family about the incident that was happening.
"Oh no, not the furniture!" cried Catherine. "Not the TV! Not the computer! Not the lamps! Not the desks!"
Francine, Laverne, and Oliver put their arms around each other, looked down, and started sobbing. Catherine stood two feet in front of her family, but looking away from them. Just then, some people came by to make fun of her and her family.
"We knew you wouldn't get a job!" taunted Arthur.
"You're one of the most homeless people in Elwood City!" taunted Buster.
"And your family can't make money as fast as my family!" taunted Muffy.
"And you can't drive a car as reliable as mine!" taunted Muffy's older brother, Chip.
"And your family is going to live on the street!" taunted the Brain.
Then everyone started laughing hysterically. Catherine then started shedding some tears, fell down to her knees, and started shaking her head in disbelief.
"No! Please! This is not fair!" cried Catherine, trying to wipe tears from her eyes. "This is so unfair! Somebody help us!"
Just then, Catherine suddenly woke up and sat up in her bed.
"Oh my!" whispered Catherine. "It was only a nightmare!"
Catherine looked at the digital clock on the dresser between her bed and Francine's bed. It was 3:36 AM. Then Catherine went back to sleep, and realized that she wasn't fired, and that everything was still in her family's apartment.
Later at daytime, Catherine then headed for the Sugar Bowl. In contrast to her dream, the sign was still there, and when she walked inside, there were no stalactites at all. She knew she was doing a great job at work.
At 11:30, 19-year-old Chip Crosswire came to the Sugar Bowl in his white 1994 Cadillac DeVille 4-door sedan. As he walked inside, he sat at the counter.
"Hello," Chip said to Catherine. "How do you like your new job?"
"Great," replied Catherine. "What would you like?"
"A vanilla shake," said Chip.
"All right," said Catherine. "I'll be there with the shake."
Then Catherine headed to the kitchen and prepared the vanilla shake for Chip, and put whipping cream on top of the shake, and a cherry on top of the whipping cream. Then she came to the counter and put the shake on the counter in front of Chip.
"Thanks," said Chip.
"My pleasure," replied Catherine.
Then Chip enjoyed his shake, happy to see Catherine at the Sugar Bowl.
By noon, Catherine's sister Francine, and Francine's friends: 10-year-old Arthur Read, 10-year-old Buster Baxter, 10-year-old Muffy Crosswire, 10-year-old Alan Powers, who goes by "the Brain"; 10-year-old Fern Walters, 10-year-old Sue Ellen Armstrong, and Prunella came to the Sugar Bowl. Catherine came to the booth where Francine and her friends were. Francine ordered a cherry smoothie, Arthur ordered a lemon smoothie, Buster ordered a blueberry smoothie, Muffy ordered a grape smoothie, the Brain ordered a lime smoothie, Fern ordered a grape smoothie, Sue Ellen ordered a vanilla shake, and Prunella ordered a vanilla shake, also. Then Catherine went to the kitchen and prepared the beverages with the other employees. Then Catherine came to the table where Francine and her friends were, and served the beverages, and they all thanked her.
"You know you guys, this is the best job I've ever had," said Catherine.
THE END