Things I learned as a PA...

1. The scale of your happiness is dependant about the comfort of your shoes. 

2. Building and breaking down director chairs is almost as important as building and breaking down tents. 

3. Make friends with crafts services. 

4. There IS a hierarchy. And sexist and racist "jokes" are rampant. 

5. Getting out of people's way is the right way. 

6. If you need to talk to the director, never talk to him. Talk to the AD instead. 

7. The talent is hit or miss. 

8. Porta-potties can be nice. 

9. The shooting must commence, come rain or shine. 

10. "Lock-ups" are extremely important. So are crossword puzzles to fill up your time. 

11. Prepare to laugh incessantly at non-funny jokes to have people accept you as one of their own. 

12. Everyone's an "on-set" smoker. 

13. You'll be the first and last on set. 

14. walki-talkies are cooler than iphones. 

15. black puffy down jackets are the thing. 

16. Huh? What? <-- dumbass.

17. Eye-liner helps. 

18. Being Christian is a minority, but there are more people out there who love Jesus than you think. 

19. Charm goes a long long way.

20. F*cking curse words are so F*cking in. 

21. don't expect to get thanked for anything. 

22. Thank everyone. 

23. make-up people are just awesome. 

24. average wake up time -- 445 am. average wrap time? 8 pm. Yup. 

25. it's all about team-work. It actually doesn't matter whether you're doing a trash sweep at the end of a shoot, or setting up lights for a shot. You matter. You count. At the end of the day, people include you in the final wrap speech. The director comes and shakes your hand. You see people enjoying your work. You look fondly at the people you cursed here and there throughout the shoot. and you realize, damn, you had fun. You really did.