Our "No outside food and drink policy", what does that mean to customers? Nothing!

[Dips]

I've had to edit one post and delete another.

This after two mods warnings.

I guess it's not just SCs who don't read.

Many thanks to those of you who tried to put this back on track.

Thread closed.

[Jetfire]

I also don't buy theater food either, but I also don't usually eat in the theater either. If I'm going to eat, I eat before or after. (Ok, one time I did bring a small pizza right in and ate it before the movie; but that's because it was from a new pizza joint that doesn't have any in store seating I could've eaten it at.) People, including a theater worker or two asked me how it was since it was a new place.

[Dreamstalker]

I was wondering exactly why the Crunch bar wrappers were changed; thanks for that tidbit

I have to admit, sometimes I have no problem paying movie popcorn prices; the small theater in my dad's town (it's a modestly-sized chain, but the building itself only has two screens) has some of the freshest movie popcorn I've tasted. They also have a "condiment bar" with different types of seasonings and because of this, the popcorn isn't oversalted or overbuttered.

[StanFlouride]

Two historical things-
1) Originally they sold peanuts in movie theatres but when talkies came along they were deemed too noisy and replaced with popcorn.
2) The present wrappers that candies come in are relatively quiet when being torn or opened. For this we can thank critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. During the early seasons of "At the Movies" it became a cause celebre' and in response MM Mars, Nestle, and Hershey changed their wrapper materials.

[Shalom]

On the rare occasions I go to a movie, I don't eat there. They usually have nothing kosher at the concessions, and in any case I eat before I go. I'm overweight enough as it is, and I found that eating while you're doing something else that requires your attention is a real good way to eat a hell of a lot more than you realize... the hand goes between the bag and the mouth on autopilot, without the brain ever noticing that the stomach is full, and before you know it the popcorn bucket is empty and you wonder where it all went.

The rest of the audience can do what they want, except when it affects me. There's a theater in Brooklyn where I went to see The Two Towers, which I had a complimentary ticket for, and the place was filled to capacity; I got literally the last seat they had, because I heard them starting to tell people behind me to come back for the next showing. The capacity crowd was surprisingly well behaved, too, no talking, cell phones, or anything. But I discovered that this theater has concessions that must sell nearly everything, because the guy sitting elbow-to-elbow with me was eating the stinkiest nacho I ever smelled, and I know he bought it there because it was in one of those official paper trays along with his cup of soda. Seriously, I was ready to from the smell of his cheese.

So go ahead and eat, but please don't pollute the air I've gotta breathe, thank you very much.

(Well, I saw the bottom half of it, anyway. The focus kept wavering in and out, as if the film wasn't quite flat in the plane of the projector. It got worse and worse as the showing went on, until by the end, when the credits started scrolling up, I was watching the lettering start nice and sharp at the bottom of the screen, then get progressively fuzzier as they crawled upwards, until at the top, the picture was like the one I used to get on my old colour TV which apparently had one of the electron guns out of line with the other two. I think they also had the surround sound hooked up backwards. If I'd paid for that ticket, I'd've demanded a refund. I went up to the back of the auditorium after the movie and stuck my head in the hole where the snout of the projector was, but there wasn't anyone around to complain to. I still can't believe that of all those hundreds of people in that theater, I was the only one who seemed to care. And it wasn't just my eyes, thank you very much, because my cousin saw it with me and he noticed it too.)

[Cookie]

I am a former food sneaker to movie theaters. Actually, I read this thread yesterday with every intention of picking up a bottled water for my purse before going to the theater to see Alice in Wonderland. My husband was having the same thoughts, but I just hadn't thought of it from the perspective of the employees. You guys don't make the rules, but you get in trouble if somebody breaks them. I told my husband this and we both agreed to buy a large bottled water there and share it. That's all we want while watching a movie, anyway.

[Lace Neil Singer]

It's much the same where I work; people are always bitching to me about the petrol prices, when it's not my damn fault they went up and I don't control them anyway. -.-

[Dips]

OK, folks. What part of iradney's warning wasn't clear?

This thread is about SUCKY CUSTOMERS who bitch at employees about concession prices and give employees crap when caught sneaking food into the theater.

The OP posted here to vent about them, but instead got a bunch of replies from people acting just like the SCs in his story.

Not nice.

[Calvin St.Hobbes]

I don't anticipate that i'll be changing my smuggling ways in the future...

[ShootMePlease]

On the rare occasions I go to the movies, I bring my own food in. I just put it in my purse. If the theatre wants me to buy their food they need to stop charging redonkulous amounts of money for it.

[Dasota]

I too have been known to sneak food into a movie. Mostly though it's candy that they may not have there or the one time I hadn't finished my fries before the movie. But I always make sure I get a large soda from the consession stand. Not many places that have coke products serve Cherry Coke, which I absolutely love.

[Dips]

In regards to the theatre that insists patrons leave their stuff in their cars, citing homeland security, that's just SUCH BS. Unless the theatre is in a wasteland completely unaccessable by walkers or public transit, what's with the ASSuption that everybody has a car?

I would not go to such a place, namely because I don't have a car to leave things in!
Mind you, I don't go around heavily burdened, but there's NO WAY I'm going to surrender the one bag I do carry, or anything I've bought during the day. ( I wouldn't show up at the theatre with a carload of stuff, mind you).

A friend of mine would really hate this- she DOES go around heavily bag-laden. Let's see- at least three small purses at any given time, a fully stuffed knapsack, and usually at least two full tote bags. And this is how she leaves the house, not the result of a day's worth of shopping!

That's nothing to do with this topic and it's better suited to fratching. Take it there, please.

www.fratching.com

[Dragonfly369]

I too sneak food in. but not because of prices. I always get a drink and a pop corn of some sive drink always being the largest they have. but out side of the pop corn i cant really eat much at the movies. I have issues like being lactose intolerant which i ignore enough with the pop corn and I have IBS so certain foods are and extreamly bad idea. Now I wouldnt sneak them in if they would listen to me when i say you food could send me to the ER but they dont. So i use my backpack which is my purse as it holds extra clothing and meds and such and sneak the food in that way.

[Victoria J]

I once had to go back to a cinema and ask if I'd left a box of muesli.

I hadn't been eating it there - I'd bought in on the way to the cinema and lost it. Found it in the cafe we'd been in before the film in the end. We felt really stupid asking about it, and were also worried we'd cause some sort of bomb alert (there seemed to be a lot of those at the time).

I admit to sneaking things in sometimes - but if they started really being insistant I'd either comply or stop going to the place. Those are really the only choices as a customer.

I really like taking in iced drinks (slushie type ones) from Starbucks. They aren't as ridiculously big, they last longer than an actually liquid drink and the cinemas don't do a slushie drink which isn't really really obnoxiously sweet.

Otherwise I normally take a small drink/snack or do without for "ordinary" trips to see a film, and buy popcorn and a drink etc. occassionaly when I count it as actually "going out" or a treat. I have no idea why I class some visits as everyday, and some as special Now I don't understand myself.

Back to cereal - I do like eating Crunchy Nut cornflakes as a popcorn alternative (I think they once had adverts about that), and I've recently corrupted my baby sister to do the same. She laughed when I bought some to eat when we had a DVD watching day, but she loved it, and she can't stand pop corn. I wouldn't mind sneaking some into a cinema, but I'd feel self conscious taking anything so noisy.

A friend of mine would really hate this- she DOES go around heavily bag-laden. Let's see- at least three small purses at any given time, a fully stuffed knapsack, and usually at least two full tote bags. And this is how she leaves the house, not the result of a day's worth of shopping!

Off topic and none of my business, and I'll understand if you don't answer - but why does she carry so much stuff ? The only people I've seen who carry so much regularly are either those with very small babies, or those who have compulsive type problems.

(I'm a bit of a hoarder, and I tend to accumulate bags. I have a satchel-y bag but I slowly fill it up, and then I mostly carry a big supermarket bag around as well. And then I end up switching to another supermarket bag, having forgotten what was in the first and end up leaving half full bags everywhere at home. I can't imagine carrying 6 bags and it working well or ever being able to find anything).

Victoria J

[CaroPhoenix]

The AMC Theater near my house gives you coupons for free/reduced prices on concession stuff if you have an AMC Watchers card.

Also, on the days that I take Child Rum to the "Sensory Friendly" films (once a month), we are told we can bring our own snacks incase our child doesn't/can't eat the stuff at concessions.