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Drive-ins and fog don't mix, geniuses... (kinda long)
Now, I work at a drive-in theater; I make food for the snack bar. I'm sure I'll have more stories to regale you with involving the wonderful people that come there, but for now, this story is foremost in my mind. Mostly a tale of mass stupidity, with one brief SC encounter highlighted
Flashback to a little over a month ago. On this day, it was pretty foggy all day, and as night began to fall, the fog increased, and would continue to increase throughout the night.
Now, common sense dictates that these conditions would make trying to watch a drive-in movie an exercise in futility, as fog has this tendency to scatter projected light in all directions, leaving little if any to actually hit the screen.
With this in mind, I'm figuring that it'll be a pretty mellow night, despite the fact that this was the one day of the week that people can get in at a reduced price. After all, who could possibly expect to watch a drive-in flick under these conditions?
As I ride up the driveway to the complex, I see, much to my shock and dismay, at least 12 cars waiting in line to get in once the box office. I go into the snack bar, and start to prepare food, feeling my WTF meter rise as even more cars show up to wait in line, then after the box opens up to let people in, I see a steady stream of even more cars driving up.
This continues, well into half an hour before the projectors are fired up.
*pause. You know where this is going...*
About 5 minutes after the projectors get going, sure enough, in come all these people complaining that they can't see their movie, and the majority of them asking if or claiming that there's something wrong with the projectors, as well as more than a few asking for the manager so they can get a refund, despite the fact that the box offices have signs that clearly state "No Refund Due To Fog."
Eventually it gets so bad that the manager has to go outside with a roll of re-admission tickets in his hand (sadly, he's forced to do some damage control here) to cater to the exodus of cars that are now leaving.
The complaining about the un-viewable movies continues, with one particular woman and her daughter (or granddaughter, hard to tell her age) walking up to the counter as I'm tending the ovens. We'll call her "Clueless Hag."
CH: I want to speak to the manager! There's something wrong with your projector; I can't see my movie!
Me: Well, ma'am, the reason for that is that the fog is blocking the light from the projector, preventing it from...
CH: NO IT'S NOT! (!!eleventy!!!1!1) Your projector is malfunctioning!!
Me:
*seeing that this is going nowhere fast and pointing* Manager's outside by the box office. *describes manager*
CH: *stomps off with girl in tow*
And even as the exodus of cars going out continues, there are STILL people driving up to the box to get in! This goes on for at least an hour, with the poor girl in the box at some point trying to dissuade people from going in, due to the ever increasing fog. She is successful in this endeavor with about 1/4 of them.
Eventually, all of this winds down, leaving only a handful of cars out in the field, undoubtedly containing people who came not to see a movie, but to entertain themselves in... different ways. (To whom the fog would actually provide an advantage.
)
All in all, the manager had to give out AT LEAST 55 re-admission tickets (he lost count past that.) If it were up to me, they would have gotten nothing. Why compensate them for their own lack of common sense?
It's times like this that make me fear that the movie "Idiocracy" is surely becoming a reality.
Flashback to a little over a month ago. On this day, it was pretty foggy all day, and as night began to fall, the fog increased, and would continue to increase throughout the night.
Now, common sense dictates that these conditions would make trying to watch a drive-in movie an exercise in futility, as fog has this tendency to scatter projected light in all directions, leaving little if any to actually hit the screen.
With this in mind, I'm figuring that it'll be a pretty mellow night, despite the fact that this was the one day of the week that people can get in at a reduced price. After all, who could possibly expect to watch a drive-in flick under these conditions?
As I ride up the driveway to the complex, I see, much to my shock and dismay, at least 12 cars waiting in line to get in once the box office. I go into the snack bar, and start to prepare food, feeling my WTF meter rise as even more cars show up to wait in line, then after the box opens up to let people in, I see a steady stream of even more cars driving up.
This continues, well into half an hour before the projectors are fired up.
*pause. You know where this is going...*
About 5 minutes after the projectors get going, sure enough, in come all these people complaining that they can't see their movie, and the majority of them asking if or claiming that there's something wrong with the projectors, as well as more than a few asking for the manager so they can get a refund, despite the fact that the box offices have signs that clearly state "No Refund Due To Fog."
Eventually it gets so bad that the manager has to go outside with a roll of re-admission tickets in his hand (sadly, he's forced to do some damage control here) to cater to the exodus of cars that are now leaving.
The complaining about the un-viewable movies continues, with one particular woman and her daughter (or granddaughter, hard to tell her age) walking up to the counter as I'm tending the ovens. We'll call her "Clueless Hag."
CH: I want to speak to the manager! There's something wrong with your projector; I can't see my movie!
Me: Well, ma'am, the reason for that is that the fog is blocking the light from the projector, preventing it from...
CH: NO IT'S NOT! (!!eleventy!!!1!1) Your projector is malfunctioning!!
Me:
*seeing that this is going nowhere fast and pointing* Manager's outside by the box office. *describes manager*CH: *stomps off with girl in tow*
And even as the exodus of cars going out continues, there are STILL people driving up to the box to get in! This goes on for at least an hour, with the poor girl in the box at some point trying to dissuade people from going in, due to the ever increasing fog. She is successful in this endeavor with about 1/4 of them.
Eventually, all of this winds down, leaving only a handful of cars out in the field, undoubtedly containing people who came not to see a movie, but to entertain themselves in... different ways. (To whom the fog would actually provide an advantage.
)All in all, the manager had to give out AT LEAST 55 re-admission tickets (he lost count past that.) If it were up to me, they would have gotten nothing. Why compensate them for their own lack of common sense?
It's times like this that make me fear that the movie "Idiocracy" is surely becoming a reality.
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