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Topic: Idiots who text at the movies

Bill Enos
Film God

Posts: 2081
From: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 02-03-2009 10:53 AM

I've flashed similar messages using our Brenograph, just write the message on a piece of glass using a black felt marker.

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Todd McCracken
Master Film Handler

Posts: 263
From: Northridge, CA, USA
Registered: Mar 2008

posted 02-03-2009 12:22 PM

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4355
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7059
This option is always a favorite, and cheap too (may not be legal in your area) [Smile]

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-03-2009 12:56 PM

quote: Monte L Fullmer
....and things were simpler then without any of this scientific gadgetry to enslave and occuy our lives with-to make life easier....You just made do with what you got and lived with it. But, it made you a better person - knew how to respect life.

So in other words you're saying if a doctor uses a pager for emergency messages from a hospital, he/she is a worse person and has less respect for life than one who doesn't use the pager? I call bullshit.

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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God

Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 02-03-2009 02:23 PM

quote: Chris Slycord
So in other words you're saying if a doctor uses a pager for emergency messages from a hospital, he/she is a worse person and has less respect for life than one who doesn't use the pager? I call bullshit.

He's not saying that at all..it has to do with the fact that technology has enslaved all of us to the point that common courtesy and things like talking in person or writing an actual letter are unheard of.

And as mentioned in another post here, a pager is a LOT less offensive/disruptive than someone texting or yapping on a cell phone.

Very bad choice for an analogy Chris.

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-04-2009 01:36 PM

Common courtesy went away before pagers and texting. I remember someone was angry about cell phone users talking during a movie, then this guy piped up and said that he remembered a guy shooting someone for talking during a showing of Godfather Part II.

And I still don't think my analogy was bad in the sense that his point really has little to do with the technology itself. The technology is just being used as a scapegoat. As I pointed out, people weren't courteous before these technologies and now people have the technologies and aren't courteous.

Also, I was trying to make sure not to say that he was implying that doctors who use pagers are bad people, just he was implying that having to deal without them makes you a better person and so that would imply that if I have a pager/wireless phone I won't become as good a person as when I didn't.

Though he probably didn't mean for it to be taken that way.

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Tony Bandiera Jr
Film God

Posts: 3067
From: Moreland Idaho
Registered: Apr 2004

posted 02-04-2009 02:00 PM

You're right, I had also heard of the "Godfather" shooting..

Now what you said makes sense, thanks for clarifying it. [Smile]

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 02-04-2009 09:01 PM

..meant my topic to be taken in a general term - not picking on anybody particular..

It all comes to self control.

If a doc has a cel/pager of sorts, you can safely be assured that he'll use it mainly for business reasons or another - showing maturity. Now, out on the course playing 4 man best ball with his buddies, you know that he's gonna be on that thing almost constantly.

BUT, these people, being succeptable to new toys, will take these new fandangle toys to their advantage to the point they can't live without them - by losing their self control. And this is where the 'supply and demand' syndrome comes into play for the manufacturers know that if they can 'supply' the "drug" some people will 'demand' that "drug" without a hitch.

(course, this can also apply to any manufactured item..I'll let you fill in the blanks on that one..)

Example sake below:

At one of the theatres in our area, one of the supervisors was on that damned thing texting junk every other minute - even during while helping customers.

He broke his unit a month ago and about had horrible withdrawl attacks-never saw a kid so horribly addicted to his 'drug', yet he got a new unit the next day and was having his "fix" being back on the 'drug'. - might as well call them 'binkies' instead of celphones.

He wouldn't listen to his mgr on location rules of no cel usage during work hours due to the fact that he has no respect for the adult atmosphere (sounds familar?) anyway.

It took the corp office to put the kabosh on him-knocked him down to regular employee, but still manages to sneak a text here and there.

I would have fired, or at least indefinite suspension on that kid.

..perfect example being the lack of self control...

Sorry, that is what I meant: the topic of self control.

-Monte

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Chris Slycord
Film God

Posts: 2986
From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea
Registered: Mar 2007

posted 02-04-2009 10:28 PM

You should've asked around about how he got promoted if he doesn't care about the people in authority.

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Monte L Fullmer
Film God

Posts: 8367
From: Nampa, Idaho, USA
Registered: Nov 2004

posted 02-04-2009 11:51 PM

Oh, that's easy. Mgr needed a sup real bad to open days..and knew of his addiction to his texting, but kinda let it slide since he was good at his job - both in money handling and booth - but that sup took advantage of the situation of the dependency and eventually became in charge of his own destiny - what he can do and how far he can get away with it.

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 02-05-2009 09:23 AM

So, everyone here that runs or works in a theater that also wants cell phones to be blocked, you have your voice phone number clearly marked on your web site, right?

That way, if someone patronizing your establishment did need to be reached for some reason, the person trying to reach them could call your theater using that publicly available number, reach a human being, and actually get in touch with the person they needed to reach?

If not, don't rail on the people that choose to have the audacity to get out once in a while with the knowledge that they are reachable if they are needed.

This is a completely different issue than disrespectful use of technology, so instead of looking in the back of Popular Mechanics for the gee-whiz cell phone jamming device for $99.99, why not just monitor the auditoriums like a conscientious operator should?

Kudos to those here that set the expectation of respect by all patrons and then have the guts to enforce it!

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Martin McCaffery
Film God

Posts: 2481
From: Montgomery, AL
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-05-2009 11:01 AM

quote: Scott Jentsch
So, everyone here that runs or works in a theater that also wants cell phones to be blocked, you have your voice phone number clearly marked on your web site, right?

Yup. Same phone number since 1941.

Up until a few years ago, the doctors and worried mommies would check in with me and let me know where they were sitting. In the rare instances they got a call, I would go get them.

Last night I had someone in the lobby cell phoning someone in the theatre. Go figure.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-05-2009 12:35 PM

quote: Scott Jentsch
don't rail on the people that choose to have the audacity to get out once in a while with the knowledge that they are reachable if they are needed.

The problem is far too many cell phone users have different ideas on when it is important enough to talk on the phone or text inside a theater auditorium while the movie is playing. Very very few of these people are responding to anything important at all.

Someone like a doctor who is on call probably shouldn't be isolating himself for 2 hours inside a theater auditorium in the first place. Even if he does go to the theater it shouldn't any problem at all to put that phone on silent/vibrate mode and simply walk out of the theater before pulling the phone out of a pocket to see who called/texted.

Without exception I turn off my phone when I am watching a movie in a theater, eating dinner with a date, sitting at church or attending a funeral. Other events may involve turning off the phone as well.

If any emergency arises while I'm involved with any of those activities chances are all but guaranteed I can't do anything about the emergency anyway. If my house is on fire and I'm watching a movie at the Carmike theater, the house will be totally engulfed in flames and collapsing by the time I drive across town to get there.

A few years ago, I was watching an Austin Powers sequel with Joe Redifer at a Mann multiplex in suburban Denver. I remember the skies storming like hell while driving to the theater. My parents loaned me a mobile phone for emergencies. I left it in my pickup truck. When the movie was finished I found that my father had tried to call 5 times. It turned out a tornado damaged a bunch of buildings just down the road from this movie theater while we were watching the movie. My father was pissed that I didn't answer the phone. I asked him what the hell else I was supposed to do? Run out to the parking lot, get in my truck and try to outrun the storm in Denver traffic? That would be real brilliant.
[Roll Eyes]

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-05-2009 09:32 PM

He was probably calling you to warn you against getting into a car with that maniac Redifer behind the wheel. [Big Grin]

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-05-2009 10:04 PM

Actually, I was the maniac doing the driving!
[Razz]

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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 02-06-2009 09:33 AM

quote: Scott Jentsch
That way, if someone patronizing your establishment did need to be reached for some reason, the person trying to reach them could call your theater using that publicly available number, reach a human being, and actually get in touch with the person they needed to reach?

Where is it that we are all given the right to be contacted at any time? I must have missed that part in our constitution.

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