As a grown man screamed in my face when I refused to allow him into a late-night rated-R screening with his crying infant, I wondered with a sigh whether this had always gone on behind the scenes of fond childhood memories. When I was a kid, going to the movie theater simply meant popcorn, churros, an Icee and a soothing night of immersion into a story that spirited me away from the mundanity of everyday life.
Being a movie theater crew member as a first job is by no means an uncommon experience, but getting through a shift without dealing with irritable customers, monstrous messes, long lines and stress up to my eyeballs was.
Frankly, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I’d imagined selling tickets with a smile and waving goodbye as people happily mentioned how much they’d enjoyed a movie. I knew a job was a job, and it had plenty of good days. I hadn’t begun to imagine how the negativity would outweigh the magical feelings I’d so wistfully come to associate with a movie theater environment.
There was no magic in begrudgingly asking a manager over the radio to escort unruly teenagers out of an auditorium, reiterating the policy I’d exasperatedly tried on repeat to convey to a snappy customer, or supporting the team during a bad rush for the umpteenth time in the midst of a chaotic day where everyone was already spread thin.
Dirty diapers wedged between seats. Cups filled with urine. Public indecency. Popcorn poured across the floor. Used tampons. Outside alcohol snuck into kids’ movies.
It never crossed my mind as a kid, as a teenager, nor as an adult that treating minimum wage workers as less than human would get me what I wanted. I came to realize that is not, in fact, a dominating worldview.
Most people regarded me with barely more respect than they would the ticket kiosks, and believe me when I say people inexplicably detested those machines. Slurs, threats of physical violence and insults of all kinds eventually became things I could do nothing but shrug at.
I worked almost exclusively in the lobby and at the entrance, so during work hours, I seldom came face-to-face with the shenanigans that apparently happened in auditoriums during screenings. Fortunately, I was able to hear plenty from those who did, about both the auditoriums and their own experiences from the lobby and concession stand.
Dirty diapers wedged between seats. Cups filled with urine. Public indecency. Popcorn poured across the floor. Used tampons. Outside alcohol snuck into kids’ movies.
Those were just a few things dealt with by the ushers, most often, for minimum wage.
At the concession stand, customers would have meltdowns if the hot dogs weren’t cooked yet, if their popcorn didn’t come straight from the kettle, if their hot food took more than two minutes to cook, and…if their drink was free as a birthday gift?
There was even an instance of a man who climbed onto the counter to scream for a refund on food he’d already completely eaten.
When I used my discount and rejoined the audience, I discovered that the magic wasn’t quite alive on the other end of the counter either. I witnessed people talking to each other loudly, texting with their phones on full brightness, walking in 20 minutes late and shining their flashlight into the audience unnecessarily in the process of finding their seat, sitting in seats that weren’t theirs, and leaving their trash behind when there was a can right outside the auditorium.
These experiences made me incredibly relieved I hadn’t had to pay for my ticket. I’d often wish I just stayed home and found something to stream.
Oftentimes, I got the feeling that people came to the theater to do literally anything besides sit down to enjoy a movie. The disrespect for the experience, for fellow moviegoers, for employees, and for the space itself was constantly palpable.
I’d heard many reasons for people not going out to see movies: no eye-catching upcoming films, skyrocketing prices, the convenience of streaming. While those are all perfectly valid reasons, my time as a movie theater crew member has led me to believe that the lack of etiquette people show in public spaces is fundamentally altering the movie theater experience for both employees and moviegoers. And the change in experience is contributing heavily to the decline of the movie industry as a whole.
Every person occupying a seat in a screening can be part of a solution. If even a few more people listen to the video imploring them to stay off their phones and stay quiet, the experience will be so much better for everyone. Another easy step we can take is to clean up after ourselves; a little effort goes a long way in improving the experiences of employees and fellow moviegoers alike.
We all can play a part in revitalizing the magic that happens when the lights begin to dim.
Velocity 
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