FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Wearing a fiery red lanyard with “Manager” boldly written in white, Cathy Lee expresses a sense of pride while working at Chuck E. Cheese, even though she is paid $11 an hour.
Lee, 23, is originally from California, but moved here almost 15 years ago because her father wanted to start a farm in Northwest Arkansas raising chickens. Lee said she didn’t really mind the move because she was only 7 years old at the time.
Cathy Lee, manager at Chuck E. Cheese in Fayetteville. Photo: Mary Kerr Winters
Lee said she has worked at other places in Fayetteville, including Walmart, but when her friend offered a manager position at Chuck E. Cheese, she immediately took the job. Lee said her restaurant is the least busy out of the three Chuck E. Cheese locations in Northwest Arkansas, which can be boring and the slow pace can be the worst part of the job. On the other hand, Lee said her coworkers and the people make up for the annoying parts of the job.
She works hard, 40 hours a week, so she can do the things that she loves the most, which is spending time with friends and her partner, Kelly. How does she spend her money? Lee said that besides rent, her main expenses are “food and most of all things I like to do for fun.” This included going out with friends for a drink, video games and seeing drive-in movies.
When asked about her favorite memories growing up, Lee said, “One of my favorite childhood memories was definitely hanging out with my cousins. We would just do dumb stuff; go swimming and look for cod fish.” Lee values her friends and family most in her life, and wants to spend her life enjoying every moment she gets to do so.