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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Throwing a teen out of the theater.
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Jim Ziegler
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 753
From: West Hollywood, CA
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-27-2003 01:27 PM
I always found it easier just to eject the kids from the theatre, rather than listening to parents. Still, we got 2 or 3 letters or phone calls like this a week for a while (we were kicking out around 150 teens a day on Friday and Saturday)
However, actively kicking out disruptive kids w/o refunds and actively running off those who loiter will make your theatre a safer place, and will make you more profitable.
At the complex I was working at in KC, when we started trying to address this problem (a problem our corporate office was sure could not be fixed) we were the loudest, most dangerous theatre in the city. When we got done, we were the quietest and safest theatre in the city, and out attendance was building at a rapid rate (the families and adults came back). When we started, we were an unprofitable location, when we finished, we were making money hand over fist.
Of course, as the theatre's next GM found out, once you start doing this, you must keep up what you are doing. He viewed our crowd control activities as a waste of payroll and eliminated those positions. A year after he did that, this complex is constantly in the news due to increasing violence by teens. His attendance is down over 20% and the building is once again unprofitable.
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Jim Alexander
Film Handler
Posts: 71
From: Greenwood, Nova Scotia, Canada
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 09-28-2003 05:55 PM
Been there, bought the Tee-Shirt, wore it out! We had one young girl who just couldn't cut it. Nothing suoprising there, it happens. Not everyone is cut out for this type of employment. We kept her for a month and a half, trying to "develop" her, but she just didn't work out, so we let her go. Next day, we had her father, at our house, wanting to know why we didn't talk to him if we had a problem with her. Trying to stay calm, we pointed out that we had hired his daughter, not him. The short of it, the conversation became heated and we ejected him from our property.
I can understand concerned parents, and parents who want to help their children, (I am a parent myself of teen and young adult kids) but come on folks, let them grow up and stand on their own two feet.
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Brent Mahaney
Film Handler
Posts: 43
From: Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA
Registered: Dec 2001
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posted 09-29-2003 01:44 AM
Our ushers were cleaning our largest auditorium, and as is sometimes the case, somebody left a jacket in the seat. The usher took the coat, placed it on the floor at the end of the isle, and continued to clean. This 12-year-old kid comes in to get it, sees his coat on the floor, and starts cussing the ushers out. F this and F that and you are a bunch of MF's for throwing my coat on the floor. So of course the ushers aren't gonna take that from a twelve year old, so they say, "You need to stop running your mouth! You cuss one more time and you are gonna get kicked out of here." And as he's leaving, he throws one more word in. So one usher follows him out and says, "What did you say?" The kid disappears. End of story? Not by a longshot, because IN COMES DADDY! The ushers hear the auditorium doors slam open, and around the corner comes a guy who is 6'5, weighs 220, and is PISSED OFF! "Which one of you little faggots threatened my boy? Cause you are about to get your asses kicked!" And as one of our ushers tries to walk by and get our security guy, the man throws him back into the theater. "You aren't going anywhere!" This guy's kid is standing there watching all this with a smirk on his face. A relief manager happens to walk in and gets stuck in there with them. After about five minutes, he gets this man calmed down. We called the cops, but the guy had already made his exit. That has been several months ago, but if he EVER comes back, my usher that was assaulted is going to press charges and have him arrested.
Parents have no clue. And I don't want to hear, "Well some managers just assume that kids are going to be horrible and they don't treat them respectfully." Well do you wanna know why that is?? Because kids today ARE horrible! I see them every weekend! Mommy and Daddy drop them off and make ME their babysitter, and the kids think they can pay for their ticket and sit in the movie and act like little jackasses. They think they are ENTITLED to do that. Then when you kick them out, they act like you just shot their dog or something. Granted, they're not all bad, but a lot of them are.
If mommy and daddy want a cheap babysitter, then they'd better expect a little discipline.
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