CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA ATTENDANT

[Anonymous]

The Electric New Paper :

CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA ATTENDANT

MARY GETS TO WATCH MOVIES FOR FREE. BUT THAT’S A SMALL PERK WHEN YOU HAVE TO FACE PATRONS WHO THROW MONEY AT YOU, OR LEAVE USED CONDOMS BEHIND. THEN THERE ARE THOSE URBAN LEGENDS ABOUT GHOSTS…

01 August 2005

USED condoms left behind by cinema-goers.

Hanky panky in the toilets.

And customers so difficult, the police have to be called in.

To most cinema staff, such incidents are all in a day’s work.

We spoke to one of them, Mary (not her real name), who worked part-time at a major cinema chain for more than a year.

From her, we learnt that the movie-goer here can be quite ugly.

Like the woman patron who once poured her iced coffee drink on the carpeted floor after being told she couldn’t take it into the hall because of the ‘No Outside Food’ rule.

Mary, 21, said: ‘She was very rude, and had kicked up a big fuss. My manager had no choice but to call the police, but the woman denied she threw the drink on the floor. She claimed it was an accident. But after we told her we have security videos to prove that she did it deliberately, she caved in and confessed to her misdemeanour.

‘In the end, she was asked to pay the carpet cleaning fees.’

Mary has also had to bear with rude patrons who would throw money at her while buying tickets.

‘Sure, they are difficult, but you still have to serve them.

‘We even have this ‘Eight Teeth’ rule, where we have to show eight of our teeth when we smile to our customers.’

She has also had to deal with cinema patrons who are out for more than just a movie. Mary recalled an incident when a couple sneaked into the toilet for the disabled for some hanky panky and were caught by staff.

‘One of my colleagues walked to the door, turned on his walkie-talkie to the loudest volume and asked my manager for help.

‘A second colleague flicked the light switch on and off, while another pretended to be concerned and asked the couple if he should call an ambulance. They scurried out after that.’

Then, there was the used condom that Mary found while cleaning one of the halls after a movie.

She was so disgusted, she used a straw to pick it up.

‘I remember very distinctly that the movie was Matrix Reloaded and I was thinking to myself, ‘The movie got sexy scenes, meh?’ ‘

Besides gross incidents, there are also the ghosts.

Mary knows of colleagues who have seen mysterious figures that disappear when the lights are switched on.

She is also convinced that the urban legend of a little girl haunting one of the cinemas here is true.

TALK ABOUT HIGH SPIRITS

‘We’ve also been told to knock on the doors before we open up the cinema halls every morning. It’s superstitious, but it’s for our own good.’

During the Hungry Ghost Festival, she said, older staff members set up an altar in the back corridors of cinemas and offer daily prayers before starting work.

Mary also had plenty to spill about what goes on behind the snack bar counter.

‘There are recipes that we have to follow when we work at the candy bar. But we don’t follow it entirely. We will change it according to our tastes and our moods.

‘Once, my colleague added three times more salt than specified because he was in a bad mood. When the customers complained, he told them that the savoury popcorn was meant to be that salty.’

And it always pays to be nice to the counter staff: That could mean the difference in service where your drinks have less ice so you don’t freeze to death in the cinema hall. You may also get more cheese with your nachos.

But Mary admitted that sometimes, hygiene standards in the kitchen can be compromised.

She said that the staff think nothing of putting a hotdog back on the grill after it has fallen on the floor.

Their reasoning? ‘The hotdog is cooked, so the heat will kill the germs.’

Now you know.

[Anonymous]

i am never going to buy a hot dog at a snack bar anymore. 😛

and gee…. ccndom in the cinema??? no money to go to the hotel ah??? 😡 people of no moral shame 👿

[Anonymous]

okay, so was there a kid still playing in the cinema? wish to pay a visit…..

[Anonymous]

wah, how come tt cinema so happening?

i used 2 work in a cinema b4, go alone into halls 2 look 4 items left behind by patrons is normal. i dun bother 2 switch on those hall lights cos those items r mostly found under chairs or places where wall / ceiling lights cant illuminate. that’s where my personal flashlight comes in handy! 💡

1 advance 2 folks who frequent cinemas- keep ur ticket stub as a proof of purchase, & oso ppl who help u find ur missing items dun hav 2 comb d whole hall. d tix stub oso proof u hav been there a certain time, there were pranksters who tried getting back into d halls when a movie was screening, saying they drop something there. 😕

[Anonymous]

Ghosts in cinema…. zzzz… all because it is dark and cold most of the time does not need that there must be ghosts there… 🙄 🙄 🙄

As for the couples getting hot there, it is still ok to just find condoms… wait till you see the couple a few seats away touch each other and moan through the movie or worse see one sit on top of the other…. zzzzz…. trust me… 🙄 🙄 🙄

BTW, if there really are ghosts in the cinema, then you girls out there better pray hard that it is not a lecherous ghost… Imagine, you scream molest but find that there is no one there…. 😳 😳

[Author]

Posts

[Anonymous]

The Electric New Paper :

CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA ATTENDANT

MARY GETS TO WATCH MOVIES FOR FREE. BUT THAT’S A SMALL PERK WHEN YOU HAVE TO FACE PATRONS WHO THROW MONEY AT YOU, OR LEAVE USED CONDOMS BEHIND. THEN THERE ARE THOSE URBAN LEGENDS ABOUT GHOSTS…

01 August 2005

USED condoms left behind by cinema-goers.

Hanky panky in the toilets.

And customers so difficult, the police have to be called in.

To most cinema staff, such incidents are all in a day’s work.

We spoke to one of them, Mary (not her real name), who worked part-time at a major cinema chain for more than a year.

From her, we learnt that the movie-goer here can be quite ugly.

Like the woman patron who once poured her iced coffee drink on the carpeted floor after being told she couldn’t take it into the hall because of the ‘No Outside Food’ rule.

Mary, 21, said: ‘She was very rude, and had kicked up a big fuss. My manager had no choice but to call the police, but the woman denied she threw the drink on the floor. She claimed it was an accident. But after we told her we have security videos to prove that she did it deliberately, she caved in and confessed to her misdemeanour.

‘In the end, she was asked to pay the carpet cleaning fees.’

Mary has also had to bear with rude patrons who would throw money at her while buying tickets.

‘Sure, they are difficult, but you still have to serve them.

‘We even have this ‘Eight Teeth’ rule, where we have to show eight of our teeth when we smile to our customers.’

She has also had to deal with cinema patrons who are out for more than just a movie. Mary recalled an incident when a couple sneaked into the toilet for the disabled for some hanky panky and were caught by staff.

‘One of my colleagues walked to the door, turned on his walkie-talkie to the loudest volume and asked my manager for help.

‘A second colleague flicked the light switch on and off, while another pretended to be concerned and asked the couple if he should call an ambulance. They scurried out after that.’

Then, there was the used condom that Mary found while cleaning one of the halls after a movie.

She was so disgusted, she used a straw to pick it up.

‘I remember very distinctly that the movie was Matrix Reloaded and I was thinking to myself, ‘The movie got sexy scenes, meh?’ ‘

Besides gross incidents, there are also the ghosts.

Mary knows of colleagues who have seen mysterious figures that disappear when the lights are switched on.

She is also convinced that the urban legend of a little girl haunting one of the cinemas here is true.

TALK ABOUT HIGH SPIRITS

‘We’ve also been told to knock on the doors before we open up the cinema halls every morning. It’s superstitious, but it’s for our own good.’

During the Hungry Ghost Festival, she said, older staff members set up an altar in the back corridors of cinemas and offer daily prayers before starting work.

Mary also had plenty to spill about what goes on behind the snack bar counter.

‘There are recipes that we have to follow when we work at the candy bar. But we don’t follow it entirely. We will change it according to our tastes and our moods.

‘Once, my colleague added three times more salt than specified because he was in a bad mood. When the customers complained, he told them that the savoury popcorn was meant to be that salty.’

And it always pays to be nice to the counter staff: That could mean the difference in service where your drinks have less ice so you don’t freeze to death in the cinema hall. You may also get more cheese with your nachos.

But Mary admitted that sometimes, hygiene standards in the kitchen can be compromised.

She said that the staff think nothing of putting a hotdog back on the grill after it has fallen on the floor.

Their reasoning? ‘The hotdog is cooked, so the heat will kill the germs.’

Now you know.

[Anonymous]

i am never going to buy a hot dog at a snack bar anymore. 😛

and gee…. ccndom in the cinema??? no money to go to the hotel ah??? 😡 people of no moral shame 👿

[Anonymous]

okay, so was there a kid still playing in the cinema? wish to pay a visit…..

[Anonymous]

wah, how come tt cinema so happening?

i used 2 work in a cinema b4, go alone into halls 2 look 4 items left behind by patrons is normal. i dun bother 2 switch on those hall lights cos those items r mostly found under chairs or places where wall / ceiling lights cant illuminate. that’s where my personal flashlight comes in handy! 💡

1 advance 2 folks who frequent cinemas- keep ur ticket stub as a proof of purchase, & oso ppl who help u find ur missing items dun hav 2 comb d whole hall. d tix stub oso proof u hav been there a certain time, there were pranksters who tried getting back into d halls when a movie was screening, saying they drop something there. 😕

[Anonymous]

Ghosts in cinema…. zzzz… all because it is dark and cold most of the time does not need that there must be ghosts there… 🙄 🙄 🙄

As for the couples getting hot there, it is still ok to just find condoms… wait till you see the couple a few seats away touch each other and moan through the movie or worse see one sit on top of the other…. zzzzz…. trust me… 🙄 🙄 🙄

BTW, if there really are ghosts in the cinema, then you girls out there better pray hard that it is not a lecherous ghost… Imagine, you scream molest but find that there is no one there…. 😳 😳

[Author]

Posts