Went to the movies

I don't go to the movies as often as I would like, I do usually enjoy it. I did however go yesterday. The movie going experience I had yesterday made me never want to go to the movies again.

I saw Wallace and Gromit I actually liked the movie despite Dreamworks attempts to "Americanize" it, or dumb it down is more like it. But it doesn't matter what movie I saw it had nothing to do with the horrible experience I had at Century Theaters in Evanston, IL.

Of course the tickets are overpriced and the concessions are over priced. I have learned this and half accepted if, I at least expect it. The price really isn't an issue if you have a good movie going experience. I by no means had a good movie going experience.

First of all, the theater I was at normally has self serve concessions, this weekend the drink machines weren't working. So I had to go up to the counter and get a drink from one of the concessions stand attendents. I use the term attendent loosely because they seemed to just stand back there and complain about being there. At one point while I was waiting for one of these morons to get me a drink a gentleman wearing a dressier uniform looked directly at me and walked right through the door into the back. I'm assuming he was the lazy bastard in charge of the other idiots milling about. If I haven't mentioned the place wasn't busy at all. If fact we were the only ones in line.

When I finally get the attention of one of the girls who looked liked she had just been beaten senseless. I come to find out she was about as alert as someone who was beaten senseless. My order was for a medium diet coke and a large lemonade. I thought I would never have to explain this concept, but there are 3 sizes of drinks: small, medium, and large. That is how they are identified on the menu. She pours a medium diet coke, everything is going fine. Then she pours a small lemonade and I'm thinking that she's pouring one for herself or something. She begins handing that wrong order to us. I repeat my order. She then pours a small diet coke and a medium lemonade. By now a line of around ten people has lined up behind me and is getting as impatient as I am. At this point I'm very frustrated and I'm ready to yell at this girl and make her feel as stupid as she is. The other thing I didn't mention is that the different size cups are different colors. I then hold back and leave her with as much dignity as I possibly can. I tell her very slowly and clearly that I need her to pour lemonade into a large red cup and give me the medium diet coke that was in the purple cup that she had poured in the first place. Surprisingly when I talked to her at her 2 year old intelligence level she got it right. Because of this girl my movie experience is already ruined and nothing can salvage it, I'm ready to just leave.

Then I get to play the "where are the straws" game. Of course they wouldn't put them anywhere near the drinks, that would just be too convenient. Then I was looking around for the other straws, all I saw was small straws. It turns out that is all they have. So now I have a large lemonade, a small straw, and a bitter taste in my mouth from the incompetence at the concession area.

As I'm walking into the theater where the movie is playing...*BANG**CRASH* right in front of me falls a plastic child seat. One of the guys still cleaning the theater had thrown in over with out looking, we almost got hit by it. Then we walk past 2 of the cleaning crew up to the seats in the back. The 3rd guy finally stops us and tells us to leave. We can't be in the theater yet is what he told us. Those were the words he used too, "You can't be in here yet." So we go wait outside the theater for the 5 minutes one guy told us it would take on the way out. Why I didn't find a manager and chew his head off I don't know. Everyone that I had encountered there the ticket taker, the cleaning crew, the concession staff, everyone except the guy I purchased the tickets from hated their job and wanted everyone to know it. They were all rude as hell.

Finally getting into the theater, I'm wondering exactly what was cleaned up by the 4 morons that were throwing chairs around. The floor is covered in popcorn and sticky and there is trash strewn about.

I expected screaming kids and rude indivduals commenting on the movie as it was still happening. I'll tell you what though, you'll never forget the first time you hear a mobile phone ring in a theater and the girl actually answers it. She's lucky I didn't take the phone out of her hands and shove it down her throat.

I practiced much restraint this weekend. Is there such a thing as too nice? How much can one person take? If you had gone through something like this would you ever want to pay to go see a movie again?

...Century Theaters, you are officially being boycotted, enjoy the show.