Last Friday night was opening night for The Hulk. All in all, the movie was ‘ok’, but that’s just a side note. It was opening night and Team 3D and the 3d Girls, along with about ten other friends, got together to watch The Hulk on opening night. It’s kind of a tradition that’s carried over from our college days - when a comic book turns into a movie we’re there opening night – no discussion. The agreed upon meeting place was the ‘new’ Century Theater in Daly City, California. Pretty much smack in the middle of where everyone lives, plenty of free parking, and next to both an ice-cream shop and a place I’ve never been to called Fuddruckers which is cool, in my eyes, because if you read that name fast you think you read something more illicit, that is, until you read it again and then just walk on (kind of like that designer boutique you might have seen in the many downtowns of the popular big cities in the world, FCUK – read it again, it’s not what you thought you read). Lisa and I have been to this theater twice before – once when it was newly opened to the public and again simply because it was A) close and B) we felt like giving it another chance. Give it another chance? Well, the first time we went there, there were ten ‘managers’ for every hard-working kid that either took your tickets or sold you a soda, and we were shuttled into three different lines before finally being let into the theater not two minutes before the lights went dark. It wasn’t until most of the trailers were over that everyone found their seats. Moving along, this theater doesn’t have the greatest track record and the night of which I speak continues that tradition of crappy service. There were managers who didn’t hesitate to stop the trailers, turn on the house lights, and literally order everyone in the theater to move over so that ten people who were late can get good seats – regardless of the fact that the whole front row was empty and that the second to front row was only half full (meaning nearly 30 seats that weren’t good enough for the 10 or so late-comers). There was an incredibly rowdy group of kids in the row directly in front of us that were constantly yelling at each other, at their cel phones, or both. There were multiple attempts by people in the theater to run out of the movie to alert the management, who’ve already proven to have no qualms about stopping a movie already in progress, who in turn did absolutely nothing to quiet the rowdiness. The moving going experience was a disaster – so much so that many of us found it necessary to write complaints to Century Theaters pointing out the poor performance (or lack of performance) of the entirety of it’s managerial staff. Many of us received apologetic responses from Century Theaters, but Lisa and I received identical responses, responses that each included the line “I apologize for the unpleasant experience you and your son had.” Now I’m sure that Amy, the Customer Relations Manager that responded, had nothing but the greatest intentions when she sent along her apologies and four free movie passes and four coupons for popcorn and sodas, but she didn’t go so far as to read my complaint. You see, I neither have a son nor did I mention him in my letter to Century Theaters. I mentioned the rowdiness of the ghetto idiot kids in the row ahead of me, the impotence of the theater’s management and their arrogance. But somehow, someway, the concerns for my son’s well being came through, and both Lisa and I heard about it. Now, if only I was told about my offspring that would be one thing – a simple misunderstanding. However, since both I and my wife, the woman with whom I would procreate (eventually), were informed of our son’s existence, well, that must mean that we have a kid out there. And having a kid, as we immediately learned after reading about his existence, meant free movie tickets and free food and drinks at the movies. So, to sum up, I went to a movie and was less than satisfied. I made a comment, found out that I had a kid and then, immediately after that, that I can have four free tickets to a movie and four coupons for food and drinks. To sum it up even further – kids = free stuff. Thank you, and good night. |
