So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Trenchfriend]

And this idea, of having a café-area and a seperate cat-lounge, is awesome!! No cat café in Germany got his, actually.

 

[Trenchfriend]

And about popcorn.

I never comprehended the popcorn-thing in cinema. I don't like the crumbles on the carpet and on my shoes, I don't like the smell (!) from the carpet, I don't like the cups, I don't like popcorn-munching people, I don't like the trivial taste of it and did I already mention, that I don't like the crumbles?

The good thing about it:

It's too expensive for the german kids, hooray!

 

[Zombie_61]

And this idea, of having a café-area and a seperate cat-lounge, is awesome!! No cat café in Germany got his, actually.

In six states (so far) here in the U.S. there is a restaurant chain called Lazy Dog. When they first opened here in southern California back in 2003 customers were allowed to bring their dogs into the restaurant as long as they were well-behaved and didn't become a nuisance (the dogs, that is, not the customers). It wasn't long before the indoor area of the restaurants was restricted to service dogs/animals only, but you can still bring your dog(s) with you if you're eating in the outdoor patio area. They even have a dog menu so their canine customers hopefully won't be begging for samples at other customers' tables.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And about popcorn.

I never comprehended the popcorn-thing in cinema. I don't like the crumbles on the carpet and on my shoes, I don't like the smell (!) from the carpet, I don't like the cups, I don't like popcorn-munching people, I don't like the trivial taste of it and did I already mention, that I don't like the crumbles?

The good thing about it:

It's too expensive for the german kids, hooray!

The smell of old popcorn in a garbage can after a show makes me vomit. Literally. I have to wear a respirator.

But that said, popcorn is, along with fountain soda, the biggest source of revenue for any theatre. Theatre operators figured that out during the Depression, and it's been true ever since.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I've never understood why people need to eat when they go to a 'cinema' ....surely they can take a 90 minute break from shovelling crap down their gullets.
Back in the day having a treat, such as pop-corn was part of the experience but nowadays people can eat what they like, when they like & every other store along a town/city street is selling some kind of junk food to satisfy that craving so there is no 'need' to continue to rot your molars when you go to a movie theatre.
It would be great too to leave a cinema not smelling like you just just did an 8 hour shift in a fast food joint.
Interesting no one mentioned the movie. What movie ? You mean there was a movie too ?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Hard to make a theatre a paying proposition without concessions when the distributor, the studio, and building maintenance take up most of the ticket revenue. Contrary to popular opinion, theatre workers can't survive without getting paid for the work they do. Most of us barely survive even when we get paid for the work that we do.

What really fills me with contempt are the people who think it's "sticking it to the man" when they sneak in their own snacks. The greasy SOBs who do this are stealing the food off my table, and when I catch them in the act it's all I can do not to spit in their faces.

 

[vitanola]

Put the butter in the blazer? That must run up an awful dry-cleaning bill.

But you're a New Englander! "Blazer" is (or rather was) Bostonian for that immensely useful appliance, the chafing dish. I cannot imagine why they are not in common use today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Mr Allen: A Christmas present for your mother? How about this chafing dish?

Portland: Ohhhhh no, Mother never chafes.

 

[tonyb]

Hard to make a theatre a paying proposition without concessions when the distributor, the studio, and building maintenance take up most of the ticket revenue. Contrary to popular opinion, theatre workers can't survive without getting paid for the work they do. Most of us barely survive even when we get paid for the work that we do.

What really fills me with contempt are the people who think it's "sticking it to the man" when they sneak in their own snacks. The greasy SOBs who do this are stealing the food off my table, and when I catch them in the act it's all I can do not to spit in their faces.

There’s a “boutique” (for want of a better word) three-screen theater near here that includes soda pop and popcorn, as much as you want, in the inflated admission price. The seats are more commodious than any I’ve ever encountered elsewhere.

They sell wine and beer. I suspect that’s where the real profit is.

 

[Woodtroll]

Hard to make a theatre a paying proposition without concessions when the distributor, the studio, and building maintenance take up most of the ticket revenue. Contrary to popular opinion, theatre workers can't survive without getting paid for the work they do. Most of us barely survive even when we get paid for the work that we do.

What really fills me with contempt are the people who think it's "sticking it to the man" when they sneak in their own snacks. The greasy SOBs who do this are stealing the food off my table, and when I catch them in the act it's all I can do not to spit in their faces.

And here I thought going to the theater was supposed to be about seeing a show. Guess not. Someone who is tempted to spit in your face, I think, wouldn't think twice about spitting in a WAY overpriced bucket of popcorn, which is another reason to never buy concessions. Wonder why DVDs and streaming media are such a popular option these days? Thank you just the same, I think I'd rather stay home and eat my own popcorn.

 

[Trenchfriend]

When I'm theatre, I would cook a huge pot of goulash soup every day.

One cuppie = 5 Euro.
Brötchen (for dunking) = 0,50 Euro

Let's see, how long the carpet survive...

 

[LizzieMaine]

And here I thought going to the theater was supposed to be about seeing a show. Guess not. Someone who is tempted to spit in your face, I think, wouldn't think twice about spitting in a WAY overpriced bucket of popcorn, which is another reason to never buy concessions. Wonder why DVDs and streaming media are such a popular option these days? Thank you just the same, I think I'd rather stay home and eat my own popcorn.

It's the arrogant attitude of entitlement that exudes from the kind of people who sneak food in that has me dreaming of expectoration. Another example -- we had a couple last night that plopped their entitled backsides into seats in a section designated by the handicapped-access sign. A patron in a wheelchair needed to sit in that section. The couple was politely asked to relocate. "Like hell I will," was the response from the able-bodied middle-aged over-entitled jackass husband, as the able-bodied, middle-aged, over-entitled jackass wife kicked her shoes off and spread her grimy, scuzzy feat on the upholstery. And these weren't kids -- they were sixty if they were a day.

I don't care how much money somebody spends for a ticket, that purchase doesn't entitle them to do anything they damn well please once they're on the inside. I have absolutely no respect -- underlined -- no respect for people like this, and I look forward to refunding their money and kicking them to the curb.

When we catch food-smugglers, we confiscate it at the door. The building has a clearly posted sign -- NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES -- and anyone who willfully defies that rule is fair game to have their stuff seized. I've confiscated, not just popcorn, but beer, whiskey, vodka, pizza -- one lovely specimen actually *ordered a pizza for delivery to the theatre during the show* -- and on one spectacular occasion a full take-out fish dinner that a well-dressed patron was hiding under his raincoat. I told this "gentleman" he could enjoy his meal on the sidewalk and come in and see the show after he was done, and his response was "But I'll miss half of it." I then offered to keep the food in the refrigerator and he could collect it after the show. "But it'll be cold."

Entitled, entitled, entitled. And the worst part of it is, anybody who works customer service in any field can offer even worse examples of the swaggering I'LL DO WHATEVER I WANT WHEREVER I WANT attitude that characterizes the 21st Century consumer public. Expectoration fantasies are mild in comparison to what such ones really deserve.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

When I'm theatre, I would cook a huge pot of goulash soup every day.

One cuppie = 5 Euro.
Brötchen (for dunking) = 0,50 Euro

Let's see, how long the carpet survive...

Lol but you'd be better off just filling up pig troughs at the ticket office so the compulsive eaters won't get in the way of those who are there to watch a movie.

 

[Fading Fast]

Hard to make a theatre a paying proposition without concessions when the distributor, the studio, and building maintenance take up most of the ticket revenue. Contrary to popular opinion, theatre workers can't survive without getting paid for the work they do. Most of us barely survive even when we get paid for the work that we do.

What really fills me with contempt are the people who think it's "sticking it to the man" when they sneak in their own snacks. The greasy SOBs who do this are stealing the food off my table, and when I catch them in the act it's all I can do not to spit in their faces.

I have worked for several large and small businesses over the last three decades and most of them struggled to make a few pennies out of each dollar of sales (I can also note a few exceptions, but in those cases, within a few years, competition had driven those larger profits down to pennies on the dollar).

Yes, Google, etc. make massive sums of money and we all know of some local biz that has some advantage where it rakes in the dough, but the majority of businesses that I've worked for are like Lizzie's not-for-profit theater - they try to scrape a few pennies profit out of each dollar sold. As further proof, over half of the businesses I once worked for are now out of business.

I'll admit, until Lizzie educated me, I use to think theaters were just ripping us off with their food prices. Now I get it, but the problem for the theater business is that I (and I think many like me) still won't pay those prices (once in a blue moon my girlfriend and I will split a $4 water and, to be honest, we don't feel good about it).

Hence, we made a decision several years ago to all but stop going to the movies and invested in a good (not insane) TV and sound bar at home. We now go to the movies, on average, once a year and, in a few years, we will have completely paid for our TV/audio stuff with the money we saved on theater tickets.

I don't begrudge the theater its pricing model anymore, but I still choose not to participate. Clearly I'm not alone as theaters are closing and have been for years left and right in NYC. My guess, in five or so years, theater going will be a niche business for the hard core - high priced, luxury experience and multiplexes for the superhero movies to sell $300 million in tickets in the first three days - with the rest of us watching most movies at home.

I don't deny all the nasty stuff that many businesses have done and still do - the record is quite clear - but like with anything, the bad apples get the headlines, I've work for many businesses and, with one or maybe two exceptions, they all were just working their butts off to make an honest buck and it was and still is very hard to do that.

 

[Woodtroll]

It's the arrogant attitude of entitlement that exudes from the kind of people who sneak food in that has me dreaming of expectoration. Another example -- we had a couple last night that plopped their entitled backsides into seats in a section designated by the handicapped-access sign. A patron in a wheelchair needed to sit in that section. The couple was politely asked to relocate. "Like hell I will," was the response from the able-bodied middle-aged over-entitled jackass husband, as the able-bodied, middle-aged, over-entitled jackass wife kicked her shoes off and spread her grimy, scuzzy feat on the upholstery. And these weren't kids -- they were sixty if they were a day.

I don't care how much money somebody spends for a ticket, that purchase doesn't entitle them to do anything they damn well please once they're on the inside. I have absolutely no respect -- underlined -- no respect for people like this, and I look forward to refunding their money and kicking them to the curb.

When we catch food-smugglers, we confiscate it at the door. The building has a clearly posted sign -- NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR BEVERAGES -- and anyone who willfully defies that rule is fair game to have their stuff seized. I've confiscated, not just popcorn, but beer, whiskey, vodka, pizza -- one lovely specimen actually *ordered a pizza for delivery to the theatre during the show* -- and on one spectacular occasion a full take-out fish dinner that a well-dressed patron was hiding under his raincoat. I told this "gentleman" he could enjoy his meal on the sidewalk and come in and see the show after he was done, and his response was "But I'll miss half of it." I then offered to keep the food in the refrigerator and he could collect it after the show. "But it'll be cold."

Entitled, entitled, entitled. And the worst part of it is, anybody who works customer service in any field can offer even worse examples of the swaggering I'LL DO WHATEVER I WANT WHEREVER I WANT attitude that characterizes the 21st Century consumer public. Expectoration fantasies are mild in comparison to what such ones really deserve.

I understand your frustration with the entitled class; for certain they seem to be the majority of the citizenry these days. And your examples are astounding, but I believe you, unfortunately.

I'm not a food smuggler, at least I wasn't when I was a theater goer, but where do you draw the line? Chewing gum, breath mints, cough drops? And yes, if there is a reasonably visible sign, then the expectation should be clear to everyone.

Again, I understand your frustration, but maybe the threat you made wasn't the best way to express it. What I take away from this is, if theater workers are that unhappy, then theaters probably are not the best place to visit if a person is looking for a relaxing way to spend a couple of hours.

Sort of the same way as a surly waiter/waitress (or is it "server" these days?) - I'm going to leave a minimal tip if the service or the attitude is poor. Someone who doesn't understand that, or who expects that everyone will tip well even with perfect service, has unrealistic expectations and may be better suited for a different line of work.

 

[LizzieMaine]

What gets me are the people who complain and whine that there are no amenities in their town -- but then when they get an amenity, they go out of their way to try and chisel it. It's not just theatres, it's any operation that provides a "service" -- these people want the experience and the prestige of that experience, but they'll be damned if they'll pay what it's worth. And then when the place closes down they whiiiiiiiiiiiine and whiiiiiiiiiine that their town has no amenities.

We in the service sector don't serve the consumer public because we love them so -- we do it to scratch out a living. When the public rips us off, they're showing how much respect they have for us and what we do. To such ones I say -- if you want "respect" from clerks, servers, drivers, attendants, and all the rest of us, then you'd better see to it that you behave in a respectable manner.

When I eat out, I make sure the waitress knows I'm on her side. Class solidarity is the only solidarity that counts.

 

[tonyb]

I recall saying several years ago that if I was in the movie theater business I’d be looking to get out of the movie theater business.

An anecdote I’ve probably shared here before is a recollection of a lunch meeting I had back around the year 2000 with my then-employer and his wife. I edited one of the newspapers in his chain. He also published magazines geared toward the maritime world and did a helluva lot of commercial printing. I asked him if he saw the Internet as a threat. Nah, he said, don’t worry about it. The radio was gonna put us out of business, so was television. We’ve never sold more ads, never printed more pages. We’ll be fine.

My employer, who was quite elderly then, died about a decade ago at 90-some years of age. His publications are mostly dead now, too.

I can’t say I’ve stayed on top of the news regarding the health of the movie showing business. But with the price of pretty darned spectacular big-screen TVs plummeting and a proliferation of ways to acquire content, well, that certainly prompts the movie theater business to adapt or die. They simply must offer the customer something other than the movie he can see at his own leisure in the comfort of his own home on a screen the size of a queen-size bed.

Going out to the movies differs from watching the same content at home, in ways good and maybe not so good. Theaters will be forced to highlight and expand on the good. Or they won’t survive.

 

[Trenchfriend]

better off just filling up pig troughs at the ticket office

Don't ever tell that to german cinemas! Would be an evil cash-machine!!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm not a food smuggler, at least I wasn't when I was a theater goer, but where do you draw the line? Chewing gum, breath mints, cough drops? And yes, if there is a reasonably visible sign, then the expectation should be clear to everyone.

I don't frisk people at the door, but when I see someone with a big cup of coffee in their hand coming in for a show I tell them they can't bring it in. They can finish it outside or they can throw it away, but they can't bring it in. And when I get someone who walks in with a ticket, saves her seat -- it's always a woman, always a well dressed woman, always a woman between 60 and 70 wearing a pastel-colored sweater that cost more than I earn in a month -- and then swishes back out again telling me she's "going out to get a cup of coffee," I make sure she knows she can't bring it in with her. I get lots and lots of attitude, but they know the rules, and my job is to enforce them. This isn't some cute cat-and-mouse game. It's my livelihood, it's hard, grueling work for someone my age, and I take it seriously.

Basically, any functional adult should know you follow the rules. If someone can't follow the rules, if someone insists on doing it THEIR WAY at all times, then we prefer that they stay home. Somehow we'll survive without their business.

 

[Woodtroll]

if you want "respect" from clerks, servers, drivers, attendants, and all the rest of us, then you'd better see to it that you behave in a respectable manner.

Absolutely, respect works both ways and it has to start somewhere. Anyone who deals with the public regularly and still manages to maintain a civil attitude starts out a step or two higher in my opinion.

I work in emergency services, and folks sometimes ask how I deal with difficult people. I always say, "I treat folks as well as they will allow me to".