You'd feel better if you'd just rip into the occasional customer!

[Rapscallion]

The whole point about the first Clerks film is that it's not just about ragging on customers (although that's the best bit). The underlying themes are of personal responsibility and temptation - work ethic so strong you come in on your day off versus a friend with no work ethic whatsoever. There are themes of friendship intertwined in there - which is more important, your friend or your work?

Rapscallion

[Imogene]

Apparently, to Randall, the answer is friends. He forces Dante to close the store, twice. He makes them play on the roof for hockey. He burns down the store (accidentally?)... he obviously doesn't care about the work (as evidenced by buying porn in front of the customer)... Yeah, okay, so I missed those particular levels of thought during the first movie.

[Gabrielle Proctor]

One must, after all, maintain the illusion that little flying pixies clean the theatres. We can't let the customers know that flying trash pixies are no more real than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Then they wouldn't celebrate Trash Pixie Day with the proper fervour.

Of course, there's also their sacred habits that worship the Trash Pixies. Throwing cigarette butts out of car windows. Leaving litter in shopping carts. Disposing of their empty coffee cups by putting them on bookshelves in a bookstore.

The Trash Pixies must be worshipped!

I was at a movie theatre with my boyfriend and there was a couple offensive posters they had to advertise the concession stand and the theatre in general.

On one of them, there was a smiling, happy-to-be-making-$5.85-an-hour employee who was magically, yes magically filling up a popcorn bucket. Not pouring it in with a little scooper, it was floating through the air!

On the other, it was an employee commanding several brooms to move on their own as they cleaned up a theatre.

I stopped, pointed to the posters, and told my boyfriend, "Lame!" And then proceeded to rant about corporate and customers not appreciating the work of a lowly employee and expecting everything they do to happen like the poster, magic. It's LAME!

[Imogene]

LAME!

No, I believe it's pronounced 'Lah-may'. Just like those slides they show in theaters where your umbrella and purse grow arms and hands to remind you that you left them behind.

[cinema guy]

So how much do you movie folks

1. hate people like me, that often stay for part or all of the credits?

A bit. It can be infuriating when we want to get on and clean and we are waiting for one person. It is worst when it is the last movie, and it is gone midnight and we want to go home. Personally I like to watch the credits too, but never do since I worked at the cinema.

2. hate the trend in movies to put a scene in at the end of the credits, thus causing more people to stick around for all the credits?

That is really annoying. Pirates 2 was the worst with 15 minutes of credits just to see the fecking dog.

[Jester]

On one of them, there was a smiling, happy-to-be-making-$5.85-an-hour employee who was magically, yes magically filling up a popcorn bucket. Not pouring it in with a little scooper, it was floating through the air!

On the other, it was an employee commanding several brooms to move on their own as they cleaned up a theatre.

I am somewhat offended by those, but I am not sure whether I am more offended by them because I work with customers, or because I am, in fact, a magician. Hmmm....

[DesignFox]

You guys get mystery shopped...at the damn movie theater?!

Any movie I've gone to see, the crew just starts cleaning up at the credits. Doesn't bother me... I usually like to watch the credits, especially if it's a Disney movie and I think there might be a neat short at the end. I personally, like seeing that the theater is being properly maintained, and don't understand the mentality that the cleaning supplies or trash bags need to be hidden.

[myswtghst]

A bit. It can be infuriating when we want to get on and clean and we are waiting for one person. It is worst when it is the last movie, and it is gone midnight and we want to go home. Personally I like to watch the credits too, but never do since I worked at the cinema.

The whole MST3K thing can't help either--my brother and I love staying to read through the end credits to look for amusing names (a la Eastman and The Amazing Rando!) Our best find to date was Anita Poon and Sandy Poon in the credits of TMNT.

[Rapscallion]

You guys get mystery shopped...at the damn movie theater?!

In corporate world, it probably makes more sense. Every major cinema is going to have the same films on, so the product is exactly the same everywhere. The only real difference is the ability and attitude of the staff, I guess.

Rapscallion

[cinema guy]

Raps has it exactly.

To difference our chain from the competitors, we 'cast members' have to have our favourite film on our name badge. This lets the 'guests' know that we are not automatons and and gives the 'guests' and ice breaker to speak to us by asking about the film.

If we do sufficiently well at a mystery shop, we get money in the team fund, which means we can have parties, trips paintballing, a TV for the breakroom and the like. Last year we did better than any other cinema in the chain, getting a TV, freeview, paintballing, 3 or 4 parties, including a huge Christmas bash with a meal and free booze.

But all of this requires the customers don't see cleaning materials; every time they encounter staff we make eye contact, smile, greet them and say 'Hope you enjoy the film'; we hold the doors open when they leave and say 'Thank you, goodbye' and so on.

[Rapscallion]

Raps has it exactly.

That's because I'm awesome.

Rapscallion

[cinema guy]

That's because I'm awesome.

Nobody's gonna dispute that on here.

[Imogene]

You guys get mystery shopped...at the damn movie theater?!

I used to grab 'mystery shops' from my Dad all the time for movies: 1) he didn't want to see, or 2) didn't have the time to see.
Of course, in the case of movies, we were just there to check the trailers, mostly. We could stick around for the movie if we wanted to, but it wasn't part of the job, and it was free for us in that case. Sometimes, and this is very rarely, were we called upon to check lobbies for correct signage and such.
And that, boys and girls, is how I got to see Sin City free. Dad didn't want the trailer audit when it came in, he called downstairs to me, "Juwl, you know anything about 'Sin City'?"
"Only that you probably won't like it, it looks very much like a live-action comic book, and there'll probably be lots of blood."
"You want it?"
"Hell yes! When?"

[Broomjockey]

So how much do you movie folks

1. hate people like me, that often stay for part or all of the credits?
2. hate the trend in movies to put a scene in at the end of the credits, thus causing more people to stick around for all the credits?

1. I agree with Banrion. As long as you don't mind me cleaning around you, go for it. Technically, you paid to see them. Just remember, the show after yours starts in less than half an hour, the theatre needs to be cleaned, and then the next show's patrons need to be seated. (Once, we actually had a FIVE minute turn-around on a theatre because it started FIVE minutes late. Yes, it had a 10 minute intermission scheduled. So half an hour might be generous.)

2. Worst. Thing. Ever. I had so many people bitching about the scene at the end of Chamber of Secrets, how it was 10 minutes of credits for a 10 second scene. People, I didn't make you stay! If you'd asked, I'd have told you it wasn't worth it! For some movies, yeah. Others, no. Funny story: I was waiting patiently for a group of teenage girls to leave during the credits, and they were doing their laughing, rambunctious bit, but not being really annoying, when the parent escorting them came and said "They're waiting for a scene at the end, if you tell them there isn't one, they'll leave." Um, lady, there isn't one, but I for once have all the time in the world, as this is the last theatre in my rush, and I could use the 3 minutes to recouperate. You wanna leave, you tell them. What I actually said was "It's okay, I'm not in a hurry." And I was right, because her face fell so far I thought we were going to have to patch the floor.

As for mystery shops, I loved those, as I pretty much always got 100% (go me go) except on the stupidly busy nights where there was no time for anything but cleaning. We didn't have to keep the garbage cans out of sight. In fact, we'd often wheel them in to the theatre as the credits started. Five or six for the big theatres. And line them up on the walkway out. Actually helped I think, as people would have somewhere to throw their garbage, rather than just leaving it.

And Banrion? 5 to 10 minutes for a 400 seat theatre as dirty as it gets? That's crazy. With 6 people cleaning our 494 seat theatre, we're lucky to get those kinds of times. Six or more bins of garbage full to the top, popcorn strewn about. Not pretty. Sometimes it could take 20 minutes or more, depending on the people working, and the point in the night it was

[Banrion]

And Banrion? 5 to 10 minutes for a 400 seat theatre as dirty as it gets? That's crazy. With 6 people cleaning our 494 seat theatre, we're lucky to get those kinds of times. Six or more bins of garbage full to the top, popcorn strewn about. Not pretty. Sometimes it could take 20 minutes or more, depending on the people working, and the point in the night it was

That theatre was AWESOME!! Our night & weekend crew was a well oiled machine. Friday & Saturday nights, we had 12-15 ushers for 16 theatres, 2 on post and then 3 teams of 3 or 4. It was the most fun job I ever had. The most barrels we ever pulled out of a theatre was 4. The stadium seating was designed perfectly. A push broom was exactly as wide as the aisle without getting hung up on the seats. We also had an awesome home office who put the movie schedules together well. Every theatre went in, in 5 - 10 minute intervals, with the shortest movies going in first, and the long ones last. This meant that usually we would have an hour out of every 3 or 4 where every theatre was playing and nothing scheduled to start for over an hour. The messiest, the kids movies, always got out well before the next theatre, so there was plenty of cleaning time on those. I did love that job for the most part.