Transcript: Parking on the Top Floor

Rob Long on what an old DeLorean with 'Alf' plates taught him

This is Rob Long with Martini Shot for The Ankler.

Last week, a young person sent me an email looking for advice about working in the entertainment industry.  

“What do you know now,” he asked, “that you wish you knew when you were just starting out?”

It was a hard question to answer, mostly because when I started working in television I was 24, and I knew precisely zero about anything — life, money, work, taxes — and so the first 10 weeks of my employment as a staff writer were filled with illuminating moments.

For instance, I learned that sitting silently terrified on the sofa in the writers room is an excellent career move. Keeping your mouth shut is almost always smarter than opening it.

I learned that if you order two lunches, no one notices and you can wrap one of them up and take it home for dinner.  

And I learned that at Paramount Studios, where I was working, if you're a low-level staff writer — even on a huge hit TV show — you don't get to park on the studio lot like the big shots. You park in the parking structure across the street, on Gower Avenue.  

This is where I learned the most important lesson of my life.