Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Dumb Public?

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Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 01-19-2005, 03:10 PM:

I guess the movie going public is really dumber than I remember. We get our fair share of rain here in the Puget Sound area (but not nine months of the year as some would have you believe). It was drizzling the other day when I drove up to the theatre and there was a line stretching from the boxoffice out into the parking lot street and people were standing in that drizzle while the sidewalk - under cover - was empty. I had been told our customers often do this but did not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. What's with this?

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 01-19-2005, 04:38 PM:

Yeah, I think you answered your question with your subject heading.
[Big Grin]

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 01-19-2005, 05:01 PM:

I've seen this too. The only thing that I can think of is that people standing in line tend to be greedy SOBs and will have no problem cutting in if someone isn't right behind the person in front of them. Have you ever tried to break a que line and have it start again somewhere else (to clear an exit, neighboring business front door, etc?) That's always a confusing proposition.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-19-2005, 05:30 PM:

At the Regal theater here, the box office is close to the parking lot, with only maybe 8 feet of sidewalk frontage, then it's parking lot. But the sidewalk runs the entire length of the complex, which must be 200 feet. People usually line up straight into the parking lot, blocking cars and risking their own lives, instead of lining up along the sidewalk.

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 01-19-2005, 05:46 PM:

After a hurricane a couple years ago the electricity was out. Not a light on anywhere for about 20 blocks. They lined up at the box office in the dark to buy tickets, some were pissed because we were closed. Morons-all. No, that's an insult to morons.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-19-2005, 10:35 PM:

We have a bar next door, but on the other side is a flower shop with a nice wide open patio-like area in the front. Whenever we have a line, they inevitably snake back towards the bar, so there are little kids and family groups standing in front of the bar with the drunks coming and going. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Edwin Schwing (Member # 1270) on 01-20-2005, 03:25 AM:

When the movie going public goes to the movie, they leave their brain at home. I swear, they unscrew their skull, pull out their brain, and put in on the dresser (or wherever..)

John Q. walks in, asks what time the movie is, Doesn't know if they have a student ID or is a Senior. They don't even know what movie they want to see until they get to front of the line to buy their tickets. Then they ask again what time the movie starts.

They have thier tickets. "where is the bathroom? which theatre?"

They go to the concession stand. "you have popcorn?" "you want to know WHICH soda (pop) I want?

Which theatre? Where is the bathroom?

The patrons finally are seated, watching their movie... They come out to get a refil, or to go to the bathroom..... "where is the bathroom?" "which soda (pop)?" "which theatre?"

Then finally after all of that, you have to tell them to LEAVE!

And THAT, my dear, IS a Dumb Public.

E

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 01-20-2005, 07:14 AM:

People are stupid, I hope I never become one.

Posted by Chris Medley (Member # 2145) on 01-20-2005, 09:18 AM:

Speaking of no electricity... My old theater was next to a substation and our power always went out during storms. The idiots would come up to the completely dark theater and ask to buy tickets, then when we couldn't print them they would get pissy and through a huge fit.

I also LOVED when customer would come our of dark auditoriums into a hallway lit only by emergency lights and with a totally straight face ask, "Did the power go out?" or "Are you going to turn it back on?"...yeah..let me go flip the switch that we have upstairs..*sigh*

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-20-2005, 10:35 AM:

I'd have to give the customer a half-point of credit on that one. Although it was poorly phrased, he did ask a valid question.

What (I believe) he was really asking was, "Are we experiencing a widespread blackout or did a fuse blow somewhere inside the theater?"

Remember, most people have no idea what it takes to supply power to a large commercial building. As far as they are concerned, you simply go to the basement and flip the breaker back on. They don't know what a power distribution panel is for, nor do they understand that, if the power goes out in a commercial building, it's likely to be something serious.

Top it all off with the fact that YOU spend your every waking moment in that building but the customer MIGHT spend a couple-three hours inside that building in a YEAR. The poor guy was sitting in his seat, watching a movie and minding his own business when he was jolted back to reality by the screen suddenly going black and the emergency light system coming on. It'd take some time for the daze to wear off.

This is the reason why people who own or work in theaters should take their emergency response measures seriously... VERY seriously... Because when you come right down to it, customers ARE dumb. You have to think like a dumb customer or else people will get killed.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 01-21-2005, 07:32 AM:

I have had the power go out during movies before. I had all of my employees trained on emergency response, and each auditorium was assigned one member of the staff as its er rep.

When the power went out, each person would very quickly grab a flashlight and head into the auditorium to inform them of the blackout, to please remain seated for thier safety until we have any further information.

I would run upstairs to the booth and flip all the switches to the power for the projectors and sound booth, last thing you want is power coming on and blowing your sound racks out or movies starting with no bulb on.

We would have no questions after that.

Worked every time..

ciao baby

dave

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 01-21-2005, 07:43 PM:

I find it amazing that y'all think "they" are the dumb public when they come into your biz place that you know so well and ask "silly" questions.

I bet they say the same about y'all when *you* ask dumbass questions where they work...

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 01-21-2005, 09:19 PM:

Phil, my thoughts exactly... when I worked retail at Target for many years, I got "dumb" questions from "dumb" people all the time, but after I left retail and became "one of them" again, I realized that most weren't really dumb.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 01-22-2005, 06:55 PM:

quote: Robert E. Allen
I had been told our customers often do this but did not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. What's with this?

People in crowds have sort of a lemming mentality, and follow the mass. One goes, so do the others. I've noticed similar behavior in my big rig. People will come down the left lane at a good enough clip to pass me, but then they mysteriously slow down and stick right on the end of my trailer. Just enough in the way that I can't change lanes without hitting them. I speed up, they speed up; I slow down, they slow down. Like there's a friggin' magnet on my tandems or something!

And they don't even realize how much danger they're in doing that, yet it happens all day long! That, and passing me on the right, or trying to come around me on the right while I'm making a turn at an intersection! It's beyond me how stupid people are who do that. They haven't a clue that I can't SEE them on my blind side, and that they can easily be crushed! Even before I started driving a truck, I didn't do that!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-22-2005, 09:54 PM:

OOH!! That pisses me off and I don't even drive a truck!! [Mad]

If you're going to pass a truck, PASS IT, dammitt!

I think it's because they are afraid. They're clipping along just a bit faster than the truck but when they get up along side they get freaked out and just freeze up. They don't know what to do.

People like that should just get in the right lane and drive at the speed limit and let others pass.