Current Events > I work at a movie theater. AMA!

(+) Yeah! (+)

How much money have you found while cleaning a theatre?
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Nah that's not what i'm talking about ;)

Then what ARE you talking about? Spit it out!

CrimsonWaffle posted...

How much money have you found while cleaning a theatre?

I found a 20 once. That was pretty cool.
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Do you have "active shooter" drills?
Would you rather clean vomit or shit?
Do you judge people who come dressed up in a movie theme?
Do you guys all point and laugh at the people who watch movie alone as they are leaving?

bknight posted...

Do you have "active shooter" drills?
Would you rather clean vomit or shit?
Do you judge people who come dressed up in a movie theme?
Do you guys all point and laugh at the people who watch movie alone as they are leaving?

Yes, we did one a few months ago.
Shit. We have this stupid green stuff that looks like weed that we sprinkle on the vomit, sweep it up, then we have to mop it. The shit is way easier to clean imo.
A little, yes. There was this 40 year old dude dressed as Georgie from It. I thought that was a little much.
No, we laugh at dumbasses who do actual dumb shit like try to get into an R rated movie without ID or try to use the wrong rewards card or don't understand how our Freestyle machines work.
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Would you like to go to the movies with me sometime and clean up shit?
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Would you like to go to the movies with me sometime and clean up shit?

No mop on Earth is big enough to clean you up.
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Would you like to go to the movies with me sometime and clean up shit?

No mop on Earth is big enough to clean you up.

You just said a mouthful.
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Good morning, CE!
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Good morning, CE!

I hope you enjoy working at the theater. I know I did. I was just a kid, 17 or so and there were older guys in their 20s. After the last showing and customers left they'd slip in beers and we'd talk about girls (all bullshit). We'd talk til 2-3 am when the cleaning crew showed up.

Every time I go to the theater it takes me back.

Do they still do midnight showings? The theater I worked at would have them Halloween (Either the movie HALLOWEEN or ROCKY HORROR MOVIE) and other times during the year. This was the '80s. Yeah, I'm old.
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Are you sick of the smell of popcorn? Like, does it annoy you if you smell it in your house/apt/home?
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Can you hook us up with promotional shit they have? Like those codes they have for free digital versions of movies or Fandango $x off coupons.
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brestugo posted...

SableWolfAngel posted...

Good morning, CE!

I hope you enjoy working at the theater. I know I did. I was just a kid, 17 or so and there were older guys in their 20s. After the last showing and customers left they'd slip in beers and we'd talk about girls (all bullshit). We'd talk til 2-3 am when the cleaning crew showed up.

Every time I go to the theater it takes me back.

Do they still do midnight showings? The theater I worked at would have them Halloween (Either the movie HALLOWEEN or ROCKY HORROR MOVIE) and other times during the year. This was the '80s. Yeah, I'm old.

Oh yeah? What kinds of things did you say about girls?

Yeah, we do midnight shows, but it's for employees only and it's of the new movies we got that week. So we watch it the Wednesday before its premier Friday. So I got to see It before all our patrons that came out in droves. Pretty cool, huh?
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Caution999 posted...

Are you sick of the smell of popcorn? Like, does it annoy you if you smell it in your house/apt/home?

No because I'm a smoker so that overpowers everything else.

LockeMonster posted...

Can you hook us up with promotional shit they have? Like those codes they have for free digital versions of movies or Fandango $x off coupons.

I don't think we have any of those, but we do get promo posters, pins, hats, toys, and other junk nobody wants.
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Yeah, we do midnight shows, but it's for employees only and it's of the new movies we got that week. So we watch it the Wednesday before its premier Friday. So I got to see It before all our patrons that came out in droves. Pretty cool, huh?

It's cool, yes. We did that too. Always mid-week premier for employees.
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SableWolfAngel posted...

TheJBD posted...

Do you save the popcorn from the previous night in a big trash bag and just mix it in with the fresh stuff the next day?

No we never do that. We make it fresh every single day. What doesn't get used gets thrown away.

Liar!!
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So, what exactly is the popcorn butter made of? >_>
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Kajagogo posted...

SableWolfAngel posted...

TheJBD posted...

Do you save the popcorn from the previous night in a big trash bag and just mix it in with the fresh stuff the next day?

No we never do that. We make it fresh every single day. What doesn't get used gets thrown away.

Liar!!

I am not lying!

Sayoria posted...

So, what exactly is the popcorn butter made of? >_>

Some kinda butter flavored oil.
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Oh yeah? What kinds of things did you say about girls?

Yeah, we do midnight shows, but it's for employees only and it's of the new movies we got that week. So we watch it the Wednesday before its premier Friday. So I got to see It before all our patrons that came out in droves. Pretty cool, huh?

SableWolfAngel posted...

brestugo posted...

SableWolfAngel posted...

Good morning, CE!

I hope you enjoy working at the theater. I know I did. I was just a kid, 17 or so and there were older guys in their 20s. After the last showing and customers left they'd slip in beers and we'd talk about girls (all bullshit). We'd talk til 2-3 am when the cleaning crew showed up.

Every time I go to the theater it takes me back.

Do they still do midnight showings? The theater I worked at would have them Halloween (Either the movie HALLOWEEN or ROCKY HORROR MOVIE) and other times during the year. This was the '80s. Yeah, I'm old.

Oh yeah? What kinds of things did you say about girls?

Yeah, we do midnight shows, but it's for employees only and it's of the new movies we got that week. So we watch it the Wednesday before its premier Friday. So I got to see It before all our patrons that came out in droves. Pretty cool, huh?

Well like I said this was the '80s and the theater was in a mall. They still had projectionists then too which I think they got rid of in the '90s after a union strike. The projectionists were old guys that changed the movie reels and smoked cigarettes in the projector room. After customers left, sometimes one of them would pull out a screen and run 8mm porno reels from the '70s for us (if there were no women around).

Plus the theater was in a mall as I said so there were always girls (and women) around. Not that any of us knew what to do with them at the time. BUT add in the beers, and the porn and all kinds of bullshit was being said about "How I'd take so & so out" or "How me & whatsername almost hooked up" , etc. . This was all in the evenings after the last show. For me it was only during the summer because I was still in high school.

Do theaters still have projectionists or is it all automated? I think I know the answer already but......
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All automated. All run by program where you can schedule the shows and control even stuff like the brightness. Most of the movies aren't even physical all sent over to us. Occasionally studios will send harddrives, but it's less and less.
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Right, all automated. We only mess with the projectors when they malfunction, which is every damn day with the old ass projectors we have.
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Do you ever go up there and get zapped trying to fix it? And then you go flying into the theater and tumble down the aisles as your shoes fall off?
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Do you ever go up there and get zapped trying to fix it? And then you go flying into the theater and tumble down the aisles as your shoes fall off?

Were you dropped on your head as a child?
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Do you ever go up there and get zapped trying to fix it? And then you go flying into the theater and tumble down the aisles as your shoes fall off?

Were you dropped on your head as a child?

Twice this morning actually.
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Thanks @SableWolfAngel & @Flintlock_Staff

I think I've exhausted all my questions. Doesn't sound like things have changed too much. I hope you enjoy working at the theater as much as I did. I still have 3 or 4 friends from those days.

*goes back into lurk mode*
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Yeah, it's a fun place to work. It has its ups and downs just like any job. The perks are great, though!
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One last thing: Back when the projectionist union was still active you didn't DARE enter the projection booth without a union member present. Something about liability for equipment, tuning etc. One time management did that (went into the booth without a projectionist present) somewhere in Los Angeles and about 1/4 of the projectionists walked out across town. They threatened to all call in sick on a Friday & Saturday and damned near shut this town down for the weekend!
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$7.25/hr??? hory shit. and you rent an apartment? oh lawd have mercy
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Weezy_Tha_Don posted...

$7.25/hr??? hory shit. and you rent an apartment? oh lawd have mercy

I do other things for money on the side to supplement my income.
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Weezy_Tha_Don posted...

$7.25/hr??? hory shit. and you rent an apartment? oh lawd have mercy

I do other things for money on the side to supplement my income.

You might want to start a new AMA for that one.
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

SableWolfAngel posted...

Weezy_Tha_Don posted...

$7.25/hr??? hory shit. and you rent an apartment? oh lawd have mercy

I do other things for money on the side to supplement my income.

You might want to start a new AMA for that one.

You might want to consult a therapist for, well, everything.
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SableWolfAngel posted...

Johnny_Nutcase posted...

SableWolfAngel posted...

Weezy_Tha_Don posted...

$7.25/hr??? hory shit. and you rent an apartment? oh lawd have mercy

I do other things for money on the side to supplement my income.

You might want to start a new AMA for that one.

You might want to consult a therapist for, well, everything.

I consulted her and she asked me to ask you why you think I need to consult a therapist. I think she's thinkin you're the whacked out one here.... heheh.
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At least you're providing bumps.
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I've got this image in my head over the past 24 hours that you've been in the movie theater sweeping up human shit and me asking you questions..... This topic is a success.
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What's your favorite genre(s) of game? Top 5 games of all time?
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0AbsoluteZero0 posted...

What's your favorite genre(s) of game? Top 5 games of all time?

I guess life sims, pet games, and puzzle games.

Zero Escape Volume II: Virtue's Last Reward
Zero Escape Volume I: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
Animal Crossing
Super Mario Sunshine
Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest
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What are some of the things that customers do that annoy you?
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CrimsonWaffle posted...

What are some of the things that customers do that annoy you?

Complain about the prices of the concessions, leave their trash in the theaters, get lost in a single hallway, try to get their underage kids into an R rated movie without accompanying them and yelling at me like it's my fault they can't go in, try to use Fandango gift cards there even though it says on the back of the card that you need to use them on the Fandango website and NOT AT THE BOX OFFICE/THEATER, ask if they can have a poster or banner we have hanging up, not know the name of the movie they want to see, get upset when they were looking at the wrong theater/Google didn't show the right time for a movie, asking if they can be seated WAAAAY early even though the last movie hasn't ended yet, etc.
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How about when customers get upset at you for enforcing the no outside food or drink policy?
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CrimsonWaffle posted...

How about when customers get upset at you for enforcing the no outside food or drink policy?

I don't really enforce that.
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Bump.
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If I show up to watch a movie and say I know you, I don't have to pay right? Because that's bullshit.
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

If I show up to watch a movie and say I know you, I don't have to pay right? Because that's bullshit.

You have to pay double.
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Allllllllright but if I do that, there's a fair chance I get explosive diarrhea all over one of your bathroom stalls. Better get the mop ready.
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Johnny_Nutcase posted...

Allllllllright but if I do that, there's a fair chance I get explosive diarrhea all over one of your bathroom stalls. Better get the mop ready.

Nah, If it's in the male bathroom then I don't have to do it.
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Are the theatres cleaned after each showing? Does anyone ensure there's not some urine or spilled drink on my seat before I sit down? How often are your seats and the individual rooms deep cleaned?
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Capn Circus posted...

Are the theatres cleaned after each showing? Does anyone ensure there's not some urine or spilled drink on my seat before I sit down? How often are your seats and the individual rooms deep cleaned?

I think Sable comes in personally and drags ass across each arm rest.
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I always drink a pint of Takaa when I go to the movies. What happens if you're caught drinking?

Capn Circus posted...

Are the theatres cleaned after each showing? Does anyone ensure there's not some urine or spilled drink on my seat before I sit down? How often are your seats and the individual rooms deep cleaned?

Yes, the ushers go in and sweep, mop if necessary, throw away garbage, and reset the chair armrests.
Yes, we try to catch spills if we can.
I don't think they're ever "deep cleaned", but the janitors try to spiffy things up at night when everyone else goes home.

lFollowTheToS posted...

I always drink a pint of Takaa when I go to the movies. What happens if you're caught drinking?

I think we can throw you out and/or call the cops on you.
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I'd imagine I would be long gone before they arrive, as with anyone else. Why would the cops be called if I'm peacefully sitting by myself drinking? I don't even bother pouring the shit in a different container.