A friendly guide on how not to make your local theater workers hate you this weekend
by a former theater worker with 3 and a half years of theater experience at a local theater with no competitors within 30 miles and therefor has seen the end of times
According to some reports many theaters will be working insane extra hours this weekend to accommodate what it’s likely to be one of the biggest movie releases in recent history. As you have probably guessed, this means that your local theater workers are going to be stressed beyond reason, likely working extra hours with no overtime pay, and probably without a break. And believe me when I say that it is an unending nightmare the likes of which most people have never seen. So here are a few quick things you can do to make their lives easier, and ensure they don’t spend countless hours telling all of their co-workers about That Asshole(You) they had to deal with. You don’t want to be that asshole.
Box Office
If at all possible, purchase your tickets online. This keeps the lines at box office down and helps you get to your theater and out of everyone’s way faster.
Do not wait in line with you and your entire extended family. This clogs up the line and makes it difficult to gauge how many people actually need to be helped. Send one or two people up there to purchase the tickets, and have everyone else wait off to the side. This doesn’t seem like a big deal but the box office attendants can get in trouble if lines are too long and you standing there with Everyone You Have Ever Met makes it look like the line is longer than it is.
Have your student IDs, rewards cards, military IDs, and your payment method ready when you get in line. Once again you standing there rifling through your bag trying to find your credit card and rewards number holds up the line and is annoying.
Do not pay in change, and if you do don’t get mad when the employee takes a bit to count it out. They get in trouble if their register is off, and they need to make sure the amount is correct. Save your time and theirs and pay in cash or with your card.
If you or your loved ones want to get a senior discount, YOU HAVE TO ASK FOR IT. Theater workers are trained to NOT assume that someone is a senior, so unless you specify that you want the discount they will not apply it and you getting mad that it wasn’t added and then standing there fuming while they get a manager to give you your refund is pointless and wastes your time and theirs. Just ask for the discount.
Don’t get offended if they ask to search your bag if you have a big backpack or whatever. They are not looking for food, and they do not care if you have food. They are looking for weapons, booze, and drugs. Do us all a favor and leave your gun and beer and cigar at home. If you are uncomfortable with them searching your bag you can usually just leave it at the box office, or better yet, don’t bring the bag.
If you want to use a pass make sure you are at the right theater?? If you have an AMC pass or gift card you aren’t gonna be able to use it at a Harkins or a Cinemark.
Most theater box offices cannot take Fandango gift cards. If you have one do everyone a favor and use it to buy your tickets online or on their app.
Ticket Taker/Door Podium:
Once again, have your tickets ready. When you step away from the box office don’t put them in your bag or pocket, keep them out and be ready to hand them off. You will not be admitted without a ticket.
If you just walk past them rudely or refuse to hand over your ticket they will hunt you down and kick you out. Actually wait there and hand over your ticket.
Also don’t refuse to take the stub. You need it to prove your payed for your admittance and to know where your theater is(especially when 90% of the theaters are showing the same movie) and if you are at a theater with reserved seating you need it to know where you are gonna sit. Take your stub when it is handed back to you.
Keep all of your tickets together. Don’t hand them out to all of your kids and family and make the ticket guy have to take them one by one and rip them. Just hand the stack to them and they will count them and rip them all at once. It’s faster and you won’t have to stand there for eons while every single toddler gently hands up the tickets, and most likely drops them or makes the ticket taker have to use up an extra second picking it up. Seriously, hand them off in a stack.
If you need to know where your line is, ask nicely. If you need to know where your theater is, ask nicely. If you want to know when your movie gets out, know which theater it is in, when it started, AND ASK NICELY. Often times there are 8 different showings of the same movie and if you don’t know what theater it is in or when it was supposed to start the door person cannot help you because the only way to differentiate between showing is knowing the theater and the time. The question “When does avengers get out” is too vague and therefore impossible to answer.
THE DOOR PERSON IS NOT A TRASH CAN AND DOES NOT HAVE A TRASH CAN. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR TRASH AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT SHOVE YOUR TRASH IN THE HOLES, THOSE HOLES ARE FOR TICKET STUBS AND THEY WILL HAVE TO FISH YOUR TRASH OUT LATER. SERIOUSLY, DON’T DO THIS.
Concessions:
Now here it is acceptable to wait with your family, since you will need to know what they want and need help carrying it all. But still try to keep the people to a minimum if you can, it helps keep the lines down.
Wait in a line! Most theaters that still have concession stands aren’t gonna have specific lines so try to stay in a straight line if you can.
If a register is free and the worker calls you over, just come over. They can get in trouble for not calling people over and not helping guests so if they call you over feel free to head over.
The workers cannot read each other's minds. If there is more than one person helping you, and one of them asks something you have already told the other person, still tell them. They need to put in everything correctly, so you yelling “I told the other person” helps no one and is seriously rude.
Don’t leave your trash all over the counter. They aren’t allowed to throw away your garbage on their side of the stand because it is dirty and they need to keep everything clean and food-safe. Save your trash for the cans in the hallways, and don’t leave your straw wrappers at the counter, they aren’t there to clean up after you and can get in trouble for having trash on the counter. A lot of times they cannot see the other side of the counter all that well so if you shove your trash out of site they won’t be able to clean it up and will get in trouble for it being there.
Don’t yell at them if things are taking a long time. Popcorn runs out fast on days like these and they are trying their best. Assume that your food isn’t gonna be ready at the drop of a hat and wait patiently. If they got something wrong don’t yell at them either, they are probably tired and stressed and most of the time they can fix the problem right away, so just wait and things will be ok.
If the concession stand it self serve, be nice and don’t make a huge mess. I know it can be confusing and chaotic but try to resist your animal instincts and be orderly and clean.
Try to know what you want before you get in line, or at least figure it out while you are in line. Trust me there is nothing more annoying on a busy day to see a person who has been in line for like 15 minutes finally get to the counter only to go “hmmmm idk what I want”. It wastes EVERYONE’S time and makes you look like an ass. Know what you want before you get to the counter.
Listen to the employee when they explain how refills and all that jazz work. There is nothing more annoying then having someone say they got it and then come back and yell at you for “lying” to them when in reality they just weren’t listening. It gets the employee in trouble and makes you look like an ass.
If the theater has a refill bag/cup/bucket system keep the bags clean and make sure you wash the cups and buckets. I cannot count the number of nasty filthy bags and cups I have gotten and We Cannot Clean Them For You. Just wash them at home and keep them nice so you can enjoy fresh popcorn and good soda that isn’t gonna taste nasty and get you sick.
Sometimes you won’t like your food or will need a refund. Don’t be a huge dick during this process. It can take a bit and isn’t as straightforward as “here’s your money sorry”, so if you are taking something back expect it to take a few minutes.
There is almost always a nutrition book that can tell you what is in things, so if you have allergies and other restrictions ask to see it.
If you want butter in the middle of your popcorn ask for layers!! Almost all theaters can do this and it saves you from doing those weird, messy “hacks”. Also if you do ask just be clear about how much you want, and don’t be that person who is insanely particular about how it’s done. Trust me, we know how to heavily coat a bag of popcorn with butter, you won’t be disappointed.
In fact if you do that thing where you yell over the counter trying to dictate the workers every move or insist on watching them you are being an ass. Seriously, just let us do our job. You are gonna get popcorn with butter. It’s gonna be ok.
The Condiment Stand:
Basically all of the same rules as the concession stand.
Don’t make a mess. There are trash cans there for a reason. It’s annoying and difficult to keep this area clean so do your part and throw away your trash and don’t leave butter/wrappers/flavor powder and other crap all over it.
If something is out be nice when you flag down an employee to ask them to refill it. Once again, this area is the hardest to service outside of the bathroom because it’s usually swarmed with people so be patient, clean, and nice.
Don’t do any of those weird butter hacks. As I said, they can layer the butter up at concessions, so just ask for it there and save them a huge mess to clean up.
Go easy on the butter. Seriously, GO EASY ON THE BUTTER. I have seen people put so much butter on their popcorn that it drips out of the bag and all over the floor and ends up taking industrial grease remover to clean up the puddles. It’s a safety hazard and messy and annoying. Just put enough on and call it a day.
Don’t take 7000000 napkins. Most people who do this end up using two or three and then leaving a huge mess of them around the theater that are a bitch to clean up. Take only what you need and save some paper, and don’t leave a huge mess.
The Auditoriums:
If your theater doesn’t have reserved seating, SHOW UP EARLY. The longest lines I have ever seen at a theater were the ones with 60000 people mad that there were no seats left in the theater when they showed up 5 mins before showtime. If the movie is gonna be sold out make sure you get there early so you can get seats, and if there are no seats be polite when asking to switch to a different showtime.
In fact, if there’s no reserved seating, get over your social anxiety and make sure there are no buffer seats between you and the people around you. It is going to happen eventually and it saves the theater workers from having to come up and make you move.
If there is reserved seating, SIT IN YOUR SEAT. I have seen tons of people pick a reserved seat and then just sit wherever. If you do this you will be made to move, and so pick the seats you want and then actually sit in them.
Also, figure out where your line is and stand in it. Don’t stand outside of the line and cut when it get’s let in, because I have seen legit fist-fights break out due to cutting.
Don’t loudly complain that you have been in line forever, it takes a long ass time to clean up a sold out theater and you need to accept that. Unless you want to wade through a waist deep pile of trash just shut up and let the ushers do their job. It might take a bit, but you won’t miss your movie and it will ensure you get to sit in a clean theater.
THE WHEELCHAIR AREAS ARE NOT FOR YOUR STROLLER. Leave the stroller at home. Seriously. They get in the way, block off the aisles, make it hard to disabled people to find seats, and end up being a huge fire hazard. If you insist on bringing your infant, which heads up you shouldn’t its horrible for their hearing, leave the stroller at home or in the car. The box office might even offer to hold it for you, just please don’t take them into the theater.
Most theaters have seats that are for the companions of people in wheelchairs, so unless you are with someone in a wheelchair, don’t sit there.
If there is a disturbance in the theater, like a baby crying or a person on their phone or a drunk guy, come get an employee. We can take care of it right away and I know you might miss a couple minutes of your movie but what's worse? Missing two minutes of a three hour film or sitting there distracted and having the whole three hours ruined for you? Besides I'd you feel like you've missed too much they can usually get you into another showing or a refund or both.
If you have an infant and they start crying you need to leave the theater!! You brought you baby and you dont get to sit there ruining the film for everyone by letting your baby scream. Take them out and if they wont calm down get a refund and come back without them. Tbh just dont bring a toddler to a movie for real.
This one might be obvious but for the love of all that is holy PICK UP YOUR FUCKING TRASH. I have seen people lose their minds that it takes so long to clean a theater and then turn around and leave all of their trash behind. Guess what asshole, the reason it takes so long to clean the theater is BECAUSE people like you leave all of their trash!!! Be a decent person and pick it all up and take it out. Seriously, if you follow no other rule, at least take your trash with you when you leave.
Also booster seats!! Pick those up and take them out with you. They are bulky and make it extra hard to clean up a theater quickly!!!!
Once the movie has completely ended, as in they have turned on the lights and started cleaning, GTFO. You are not allowed to hang out after your movie. It makes it hard for us to clean and wastes everyone’s time. Seriously, just leave.
Another obvious one stay off your phone and don’t talk during the film??? People have waited years to see movies like Avengers just shut the fuck up and don’t ruin it for everyone. If you don’t want to see the movie and just want to talk and play Angry Birds stay home or hang out in the hallway!!
Also!! If the previous film in your theater hasn’t ended you are not allowed to just go in and wait for it to end so you can “get better seats”. Not only are you cutting everyone who has been waiting, you are technically sneaking into a movie that you didn’t pay for which can get you kicked out. Plus even if you do get in before the last movie ends once they come in to clean they are gonna ask you to leave so they can clean. Plus they technically aren’t allowed to start cleaning until either the credits end or all the people leave so if you are the only person in there and just wait you have wasted the usher’s time because they could have cleaned the theater quickly but because you were there they had to stand there and wait. Just for real don’t fucking do this. (And I know some theaters won’t even let the ushers go in if there is still a person so for real just don’t go in until they have let in your showing.)
After The Film:
Don’t talk about the movie on your way out. I have seen people purposely and accidentally spoil the movie for the people waiting in line and the employees!! The theater employees don’t get to see every single movie ahead of time, and a lot of times we aren’t even allowed to get into movies like Endgame free for weeks, since studios like to put restrictions on passes. Don’t be a dick and wait until you get to your car to talk about the movie, and don’t yell out spoilers, even as a joke, even fake ones, at the line. Don’t do this stuff.
If the ushers are exit greeting, just say a quick hi or thank you, it is little but it makes us feel appreciated.
Bathroom:
This one is simple, don’t make a mess. Throw your paper towels in the trash, be careful and don’t drip soap and water all over the counters, and don’t shake your hands and get spots on the mirrors. Don’t shove your trash in the period products trash cans. Don’t leave your garbage in the stalls. Don’t leave your clothes in the stalls. Just don’t make a mess. Theater workers can get in a lot of trouble for the bathrooms being dirty so make their jobs easier and try to keep things clean. No one likes using a dirty bathroom.
This is in no way and exhaustive list, but over all just be nice, be clean, and be patient. The workers are beyond stressed during releases like this, and I have seen people break down in tears over it. Make their lives a little easier and follow these rules, because trust me one stressful days like this the smallest kindness can make all the difference, and help you not waste your time or anyone else’s.
(And this is mostly from my own experience, different theaters do things differently, so if there are any other theater workers who would like to add on to this please do!!)
