Universal Gate 3
Universal Gate 3 is much like Paramount’s Van Ness, a busy gate with no traffic light.
This week’s shifts are only three hours, as opposed to the previous weeks’ four hour shifts. This is a popular change as hour four is when the pain really starts to kick in. Since I’m not a member of the Guild, I can come and go as I please, but it’s nice to arrive and leave with the others.
Much like Paramount, I’ve gotten to know people at Universal and I am often greeted with familiar faces. One of the things that makes walking in circles bearable is the conversations with other writers, which vary widely. Occasionally, there’s talk about screenwriting but more often we talk about Thanksgiving dinner, cars, where we live, where we’d like to live, and otherwise useless pieces of knowledge. Sometimes I find myself trying to invent a conversation topic in an attempt to break the awkward silence. Universal has billboards all around which make great conversation pieces, but there’s only so many times one can ask “Have you seen American Gangster?” before that gets stale.
| This is gate 3. I took this picture during a shift change, in case you’re wondering about the lack of picketers. |  |
Wednesday, I’ll be at Universal again for a few hours in the morning.