I'm currently PA'ing for a show at a local theatre and having a bit of a challenge with communicating with the SM.
At the end of the day I clean up and then have to wait for her to write the report. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, while I haven't had an SM ask me to stay to check over their report before I certainly don't mind, but it takes her over an hour to write, during which time I am just sitting around with nothing to do. Also, while she is able to report the extra hours she is working, I am not, and the closer it gets to rush hour the longer I am forced to sit in traffic, which means I get home even later.
Part of me feels that I should suck it up and just deal with it, it is my job to help her with whatever she needs, but another part of me feels that this it is unreasonable to require me to stay up to an hour and a half after rehearsal ends just to spend five minutes glancing over a report that she should be able to write herself, especially since I'm not compensated for my time.
I guess my question is - how do I broach this topic? She generally seems pretty unaware (or does not care) that I am spending up to two hours of my time waiting for her to write the report, and when I tried to let her know (very gently) that I needed to get home a bit earlier if possible to take care of some errands she didn't respond. She's a very nice person in general, and I'm wary of burning any bridges or making her think that I'm not good at my job or that I want to get the heck out of dodge, because I am more than happy to stay and give her a hand if there is something that needs doing, it's just the waiting around that's driving me crazy. Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks!