man! people are slobs
 

I don't know WHY I've been noticing this lately, but I usually stay through all the credits and then leave when the movie crowd has pretty much left the auditorium, but the amount of trash left behind - OI! it looks like a tornado hit, it really surprises me that with so many theatres asking patrons to throw their shit away, they just don't do it... just a minor quip.

As someone who used to have to clean movie theaters... I hate people.

I used to have to clean theaters too, and it sucks but I also realize that it was my job. plus if I finished cleaning theaters too fast I had to take the trash out which just sucked.

As Jerry Seinfeld said, the high concession stand prices mean that it's OK to just drop your trash on the floor.

^^^ I love that bit.

It's job security. Though I always throw my shit away, as I'm not an animal (nonhuman at least).

I completely agree with the Seinfeld statement. I never throw anything away at a theater, unless it's a revival/specialty theater. They don't rip their customers off.

I yelled at a bunch of kids one time that walked away leaving a pile of trash saying "HEY! Forget something!??" Pointing at it. They grabbed it and left. Only did it to scare them ;)

You make it sound like people actually care....

I live in the greater NYC area and I can tell you most people here think they are "above" throwing out their own trash. Personally, I find it pretty shitty, that is why I throw my garbage out. As a rule, I don't do anything I wouldn't want anyone to do at my house...and I don't want people leaving trash on the floor.

Give me a way to shut up the idiots ruining my theater experience, then I will pick up my crap.

Is it ripping us off or trying to stay in business? I would think the DVD Talk crowd is more than aware of both the insane price of movie rentals for theaters, along with the fact that about 80 percent of the gross on opening weekends (often more, and often for much longer than the first week) goes back to the studios.

The long and short of it is that the majority of theater profits come from concessions, not ticket sales.

I usually bring garbage bags with me and pass them down the aisles as the movie is playing. ;)

:lol: what a novel idea

It's one thing to leave garbage. It's another to be a slob and leave pieces of food all over the place. I'm sure that annoys the usher to no end.

Yet another reason in a rather long list of why I stopped going to movie theaters

The high school kids cleaning the theater are not the ones who are ripping you off. You're not sticking it to anyone by leaving your crap on the ground. That's like saying "fuck the government and their taxes, I'm dumping my shit in the park!"

Well, I run a movie theater and don't particlarly care if people leave their trash for my crew to pick up. I'm just happy they bought stuff. Pop spills bother me, though.

While it'd be nice if everyone took their trash with them, if I go to a sit-down restaurant I don't expect to bus the table myself afterwards. Guests pay enough.

:up:

Do you have those customer disturbance meter things that some theater chains are using now? Where if someone is causing a disturbance, they can click a button...

Meh. If I bring (smuggle) in something from outside, like a can of coke, I'll throw it away. If it's something I bought there, then the people paid to clean it up can clean it up.

This would be more apt were your house an admission-charging business with a paid cleaning staff. I imagine it is not.

Those highschool kids are also not the ones doing any real cleaning. In my day we would pick up the bags and cups and sweep up large spills of popcorn. That's it. At night a Vietnamese cleaning crew would actually mop the floors down and vacuum the carpets. There's no way we would have done any serious cleaning for barely minimum wage.

Whether or not I bring something in or purchase something at the concession stand I throw all my trash away. My girlfriend has definitely gotten me better at this over the years.

I'm not a big fan of the reason of "job security" thing. It's just rude that's all. I pick up after myself when I am at home, why do I have to be a complete slob when I go elsewhere? I work at a store that has a cafe and it annoys me to no end when people just leave their coffee on book shelves, or in just random places when it would take any effort at all to ask for a garbage can or even throw it away.

I don't work at a theater but I'm sure even if everyone picked up after themselves, there would still be a lot to clean :shrug:

Yes, it is ripping off. Sorry, but charging me $4.50 for a SMALL drink and $4 for a bag of candy is a fucking rip-off. I don't give a shit where a theater makes it's money - that's outrageous. And now they try to give me shit when I bring my own food in? Like they're surprised I don't want to pay those prices? Perhaps more people would be inclined to purchase snacks if they weren't so expensive. I'm not the kind of person who leaves pieces of food on the floor, or spills his drink everywhere, but I do leave my trash on the ground.

Dang Killer, maybe you should go back to cannabis! ;)

I think it's just one tiny symptom of the whole collapse of propriety and personal responsibility that has increasingly plagued our society since the late 50s. Discuss.

Medium popcorn, and medium drink "Value" Combo... $12.75. That's just fucking stupid.

The local dollar theater used to have very nice prices on candy and whatnot. I went back there recently and things had changed. $3.75 for sweet tarts. Granted, it's the 660 calorie, 1,000,000 mg sugar Diabetic Suicide Box, but that's 96 cents at Wal-Mart! :(

I leave my trash under the seat. It's always been normal just like at a sporting event for me. I don't leave a mess or spill popcorn or soda everywhere; everything's usually just in a tidy box.

To get a little off track here...

Theatre's do rip customers off...

I never leave a mess because there's never anything for me to leave behind because I refuse to pay an assload of money on concessions. They really are way too expensive. I understand that most of the theatre's profits come from the concession stand but I mean there has to be a limit. Charging 50 cents or a dollar extra for something is understandable but the price if fucking double or triple what it is everywhere else. Depending on which theatre I go to, it costs me $7.50-9.00. That's a lot IMO but I'm willing to pay it. I would get a drink and candy or nachos or whatever every single time I went to the theatre if their prices weren't so high.

All I'm saying is if they had reasonable prices I think they would end up making more in the long run.

But to go back to the original point, People are slobs but I can see both sides of the argument.

I usually come from having dinner somewhere before a movie, so I don't often have any trash to throw out in the first place. If I've got gum to spit out or whatever, the wrapper is in my pocket; the gum'll be wadded up in that and tossed out later.

Amen to that. After some of the embarassingly smug replies in the retail thread earlier this year, comments like KillerCannibal's don't surprise me much. As you said, many people these days have no interest whatsoever in personal responsibility or even so-called "common" decency in their behaviors. The eye-rolling "job security" justification is always a favorite, too.

I've worked at a theater for a few years and held all positions there and leaving trash on the floor isn't a big deal. SUNFLOWER SEEDS ARE. If you eat sunflower seeds and spit them on the floor of a theater you are the biggest asshole on the planet. Or the ever annoying fat ass who refuses to use his hands to eat popcorn, but just burys his face into the bag, walks away from the concession stand to the theater leaving a trail of popcorn along the way, like fucking hanzel and gretel.


The difference between a retail store enviorment and theater is that a theater actually has employees whose sole job is to clean the theater, most retail stores at the jobs I've had, make cashiers and department clerks clean up after the customers, theaters have there very own cleaning crew, so I think it's fine if people are slobs. Resturants hire dishwashers and bussers, theaters have ushers, you pay for it. Like I will clean up after myself at starbucks, I will not clean up after myself at olive garden.

But on a more social and personal responisibilty level, I think cleaning up after customers is bad in general. I don't think the customer is always right, I don't think businesses should have that goal. The desperation of corporations for getting the extra dollar has let customers and people get away with lots of shit that ruins the experience for all the other customers. Cell phones in the theater, talking, sneaking in smelling food, general rude behavior, treating employees like shit, etc.

And when I look at some of the replys in this thread I kinda wonder if they're not also the ones who talk and txt and have the "I paid 12 bucks to see it, it's my day off, I don't care if I'm bothing you" attitude.

I 2nd the notion someone mentioned about as film people we should understand what's going on behind the scenes. Theaters are being held hostage by the movie companies who charge them an arm and a leg to show their films. The price of concessions is the only way theaters stay in business. If they don't make money off them they can't rent the films and then there is no movie theater. Its not just something they feel like and are being dicks about. If they can't stay in business they are not open for you to throw your trash wherever you like.

:up:

Why not turn to a life of crime? Help keep cops employed...

Theatre food prices, cleaning people, etc. are irrelevant to me. I just automatically throw my trash in the garbage can without thinking about it because I wasn't brought up as a fucking slob. :shrug: And no one is forcing anyone to buy overpriced theatre food. If you think the prices are too high, it's not overly difficult to smuggle something in. ;)

Yeah, where are these theaters that are forcing people to buy their food?

They pay people to clean toilets at pretty much every business, but I don't piss on the floor or smear shit on the walls just because they happen to have someone who will clean it up.

This.

I don't think the OP was lamenting about people who leave their empty drink cup sitting upright on the floor at the end of a movie. I know when I responded I was thinking of the assholes who just dump popcorn everywhere, knock shit over, etc. Most of whom do so with the idea in their head of "So what? The kid will clean it up."

These are probably the same assholes who do not return their carts to the cart returns at grocery stores.

ugh, I can't stand "those" people either ;)

Retails stores do hire people whos sole job is to clean. Every retail store I worked for hires a night cleaning crew to come in.

On the subject of theaters. People are assholes and slobs. I never have a chance to leave trash because I refuse to pay rediculous prices on concessions in the first place.

And don't even get me started on people leaving their carts in the parking lot. These are the same people that will bitch when a gust of window picks up a shopping cart and slams it into their car. When I see people leaving their cart next to their car I walk over to it and push it right in front of their car so they can't leave until they move it.

I've even seen one lady leave her cart in the parking lot when she was right fucking next to a cart return. She left her purse in the cart, I saw this could have said something but I just let her drive away. It may be mean spirited but I hope someone stole her purse, thats what she deserves for being so god damn lazy.

I just can't understand how people have such an easy time passing the buck to everyone else just because they are paid to do it. Have some decency.

Having done cart duty at Target when I worked there, I never really cared if carts weren't all in the cart return. There's plenty of curbs and islands around the plazas I go to where carts can be left out of the way, so I never really gave it a second thought since it was pretty normal. Of course, I never really thought about the areas where it's all pavement. That would suck.