The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists a couple of definitions
for concession that include: the act of or an instance of conceding, something
conceded or granted.[i] Its
root, ‘concede’ has similar definitions to concession.
The word Concession consists of several Latin roots. The
first is the prefix ‘con’, or ‘co’, which means together or toward. You can find this prefix attached to a number
of words like concur, conduct, and the more modern cohabitate. The base of the
word ‘cess or cede’ means to go or to yield and can also be found in words like
process, recess, procession and is also the root for words like precede and
concede. The suffix for this word, ‘ion’ generally means the ‘act of’ but has
other meanings as well.
Con, cess, ion.
Together, go to, act of.
My strongest connection to the word is via the concession
stand which you can find in every movie theatre and amusement park. My first
job was at a concession stand in a movie theatre at a mall near my home. I was
fifteen at the time and was starting to exert some independence and it was
standing in line for tickets to a movie with my family that I decided to ask
for an application. At the time I was more or less unaware of my families past
with the cinema. My parents like to say that working in a movie theatre is
genetic amongst our family. My maternal grandparents owned a drive in theater for
many years in a little Ohio town. Since it was a family owned operation my
mother worked in the concession stand and sold tickets when she was fifteen as
well. My grandfathers on both sides and my father were projectionists. That
first job would take me all throught the theatre including up to the projection
booth and later into the manager’s office.
I would eventually get a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in theatre management
although that would come later. Needless to say I thrilled and also not
surprise when I found out my wife had also spent some time working a movie
theatre box office.
Needless to say my parents were thrilled with the idea of me
working at a movie theatre. This exuberance of course faded when they were
forced to pick me up at midnight two three times a week.
I can’t tell you how much nachos and popcorn I would sling,
soda and hot cheese I would pour, and candy and hotdogs that I would dispense. I
worked at movie theatre long enough that I grew to despise the smell of popcorn
and the feel of soda syrup in the creases of your hands which no amount of
scrubbing would take off. Standing in full and empty lobbies until my feet and
butt ached waiting for shows to start or end.
I did enjoy the job. It gave me an opportunity to put to
good use the work ethic that I had picked up over the years and the job skills
I picked up there have served me well over the course of my life. I have many
fond memories of the various theatres that I worked at over the years.
Now when I go to the theatre I look at the people working
behind the counter and I am transported back to that job. I think it’s also why
I insist on getting hotdogs and popcorn when I go to the movies, or for that
matter anywhere that has a concession stand. The impulse is so ingrained in me
now that I have to yield to the act of going to the lobby. It’s not about the
food; it’s about yielding to where the memory takes me.
Although I think this says it much better than I do.
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