So Part 1 focused on some pretty minor, somewhat annoying, and generally tame aspects of working on a theater… so here’s were we get weird…
You are not alone… so just please don’t.
I have caught MULTIPLE couples “doing the deed”… and it’s as awkward as you’d think. Ushers are required to do walkthroughs, so just please don’t make us walk in on that… it’s just as embarrassing for us.
Everyone sleeps with everyone.
Majority of the employees are late high school and college kids that are required to work weekends. The theater is their social life, and that’s where most people meet their hook ups/relationships. There are good odds that the employees you speak to have slept with (at least) one other employee…. even managers. People were also caught (by me, and I’m not able to rid myself of the memories) making out (among other things) in stairwells and the projection booth… it happens.
People die while watching movies.
Heart attacks, choking, natural causes. It happens, although rarely. And that’s about all I have to say.
No one is well trained or equipped for emergencies.
Things happen, people have medical emergencies such as asthma attacks, allergic reactions, seizures, etc. and almost nobody on staff is prepared to help. Make sure you or the people you’re with are equipped, because the children working at the theater will not be and you’ll be reliant on EMT response time.
We have the cops on speed dial
Now, I worked at a theater in the suburbs in Wisconsin, hardly a place you’d think police would need to be regularly involved, but fights (among customers), unruly and violent customers, and criminals trying to lay low in a dark theater are surprisingly common. Plus, certain movies bring in certain crowds. Families looking for a nice time together typically don’t come to midnight openings of summer blockbuster action movies… hot headed teenagers or college aged dudes on the other hand… do.
You find weird stuff smuggled into theaters.
An entire bottle of wine and 4 glasses was probably the most impressive thing I found, but other various food items, objects, and unspeakable horrors can be found in movie theaters while you’re cleaning. Sex and the City/Fifty Shades opening weekend for example (use your imagination and wear gloves 🍆).
OSHA would probably be horrified
There are trash compactors, extremely hot popcorn poppers, and various other workplace hazards people don’t think about with movie theaters. Are annual OSHA tests given? Of course. Were answer keys provided? Oh yeah. The number of serious burns and scars from poppers and hot oil splashes are unfathomable, and often not reported, and if a compactor was looking pretty full and wouldn’t close, “Hey, (insert petite employee here) hop in there and push it all down, it’s locked (I think).” I also may or may not have been mildly electrocuted when I was asked to change the batteries on a clock that was actually wired into the wall.
Look closely at the marquee outside, because we definitely vandalize it ourselves
It’s just too easy and hilarious to rearrange or drop the letters on slow days (plus when you’re significantly taller than most other people you work with, they have trouble changing it)… did I mention I was a lead?
A fellow employee was written up for a particularly clever:
Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
If you order food at a dine in theater, beware.
Disgruntled employees and incompetence was rampant at the restaurant at our theater, and turnover was high resulting in poor training. Let’s just say there’s a much higher chance of finding a latex glove in your food than other restaurants (true story).
The shifts are terrible if you aren’t a minor.
A typical shift for a theater employee was either opening 9:45-5:30, mid-day 2-9, or closing 5:30-11:30. UNLESS you’re over 18. A typical week consisted of 80-100 hrs in the summer for those trying to work through college, or more if you were a glutton for punishment. If you were deemed capable of closing, and there was a midnight release, you may very well be there until 3am. My personal long shift was 8:30am (for a private showing) through close (midnight release of a 3+ hr movie) til 4:00am.
Working at a theater was not the fun environment people may think. Sure you get free movies and in all honesty, I still have a lot of close friends from working there, but it was a bit more than most of us had expected.
If I think of any more horror stories or enough for a part 3, I’ll be sure to post it.
FlickFix 