Reasons I hate it: the people. Reasons I love it: the people.
Let me start with the reasons why I dislike the people. First of all, hitting on people who are working at the movie theater is a delicate process and not to be taken lightly, at all. The bar is set VERY high, considering that about every twentieth person that comes up to the register will hit on the person in some way, shape or form. As soon as you get up to the register, when I ask, “What can I get for you today?”, “Your number” is not an appropriate response. It is not at all creative, and when you ask like that, it doesn't seem like you seriously want my number. I would NEVER give a person my number if they just came up and asked me for it. Also, coming up and making some comment about my body (which I am very insecure about) will get you no where. In my opinion, I don't know you and feel things like that are grotesque and creepy. Likewise, when I say that your medium drink you ordered is $5.00, and you get a sly smile and say, “Do I get anything else with that?” as you look me up and down, I will be offended and tell you, “Yes, a restraining order” (Compliments to Ben on that come-back!). Things that have worked on me before:
- A guy saying how beautiful my smile was and that it lit up his entire day.
- A guy named Carlos who commented on my skill in pushing a cleaning cart through the hallways. (Yes, he happened to be Mexican.)
- A guy who came up to me and said he was in a dream in a dream (Inception) and he needed to open the safe, which numbers happened to be my phone number. I found it especially creative since that was the second week of Inception being open.
- A guy who had a Dunder Mifflin shirt on, and, in response to me saying, “I love your shirt!”, quizzed me for five minutes on The Office trivia just to make sure I was a real fan.
Obviously, I like the more, well, interesting ways. So, find something interesting and stick with it!
Another thing that I can just not stand about people is how impatient they are. I swear, as soon as people get into a line, whether they are second in line or fourth in line, they keep on looking towards the Concession stand, standing on their tip-toes, looking around, trying to see if anyone is open. What is equally annoying, is coming up AROUND the people who I am trying to help and asking me, “Are you the only person open?!” I swear, it's like people never have to wait for anything anymore so they are so impatient! I mean, first of all, you are the next person in line lady, so calm the eff down! Secondly, by you asking me if I'm the only person open (when it is obvious that I'm the ONLY person who is behind the counter), it is then taking me longer to finish helping the people in front of you, which only makes it take longer for me to help you. And when you just get in line and start huffing and puffing and looking at your watch when you've only been standing there for two seconds, don't blame me! You were the one who got to the movie theater late in the first place! You already were going to miss some of your show, and you chose to stand in line for popcorn and unhealthy snackage! Plus, you've been standing there for two seconds, dude; stop being so high-maintenance for a second and calm down.
One smaller thing that really grinds my gears, when you buy poppy-corn or soda from me and I say, “There are only refills on the large size”, don't come back to me after the show with your medium drink and ask for a refill. And don't even try acting surprised and saying, “This isn't the large size?” Did you order the large from me two hours ago? No. Did I ask you if you wanted to upgrade it for fifty cents? And what did you say when I asked you said question? No. So, is that the large cup? Obviously not. If you actually thought that was the large size, did you really listen to a word I was saying? And if you were just trying to get a refill anyway, are you stupid enough to go to the person who sold you the drink and say that you didn't know it was the large? Either way, the refillable size was fifty cents more. That's chump change. Don't act like that's your whole paycheck, I can guarantee by the way you dress you make about three times what I do in a week. How you can be that simple-minded and hold a job that pays that well is beyond me, but don't act like you can't afford the prices.
Now on to a whole different topic entirely. At our movie theater, we have to sell these membership programs. In order to keep the companies I work for (mostly) confidential, I will call this program Tubs. Our managers expect us to sell a Tubs card to 2% of all the people that come up to our register. It is sort of difficult when these memberships cost $12. Sure, it's for the entire year and you save a dollar on every popcorn and fifty cents on every drink, and you get $10 back for every one hundred you spend, but people don't care about that. I swear every person I pitch this to, no matter how good I sell the benefits, as soon as I say how much it costs, they just forget everything I said and cut me off. “Oh, no. Don't want that!” or “You have to pay for the rewards program?!” or “M.J.Sucky offers their rewards program for free!” ….I don't really give a crap what M.J.Sucky does with their rewards program. You do realize that it was not my decision to go from a free rewards program to one you had to pay for, right? As much as I wish I could make important decisions like that for the company, I don't have anywhere close to that kind of power. So the next time you want to complain about our rewards program costing money, tell it to someone that cares!
There are a lot more things that happen that literally make me laugh and/or cry, but I think you all get the picture of how frustrating it can be to work at the movie theater. The thing that keeps me coming back to work every weekend, though, would have to be the people I work with. Even though they are all a little different, from Doctor Who fanatics, to Dungeons and Dragons players, and people who get mad at you if you don't know all the different episodes of Star Wars (had to find that one out the hard way!), I love them all to death and they make coming to work worthwhile. So a big thank you to all of you lovely people. Thank you for putting up with my crazy mood swings (my over-joyed happiness to depressing/sad moments), for giving me purple stuffed animals (JT!), for letting me take “Fresh-Air breaks” on your smoke breaks, for always (for the most part) being happy to see me, for never letting me forget how awesome you think I am (thanks, Abby-bear!), for doing Batman impersonations whenever I ask you to (Adam!), for offering a cynical view whenever I show over-bearing optimism (Kaput!) and for just flat out being awesome and the reason I want to come to work everyday. I would honestly quit if you guys weren't there to keep me smiling. That, or I would be sobbing heavily in the corner every day or shooting people left and right because of their utter lack of common sense. It seems like in our generation, common sense isn't all that common. Seems a downright shame......shame. Seems an awful waste. Such a nice, plump frame.
K.G. Sunshine
P.S. If you didn't get the title reference, “50/50” and “In Time” are two big movies out right now. Both are absolutely fantastic. The movie 50/50 really makes you appreciate the small things in life and forces you to realize how short life actually is. You will choke up and/or sob heavily. “In Time” is also absolutely fantastic! Such an original plot compared to the movies Hollywood makes nowadays. An interesting concept tied together with Justin Tiberlake's surprisingly superb acting ability creates a suspenseful action movie that is definitely a must-see! And the last line of the blog refers to the song from “Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Flint Street” called “A Little Priest”. Definitely watch that movie if you haven't already. Probably one of my favorite musicals, next to Little Shop of Horrors.
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