Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas Lesson Learned


For several weeks now, I had been excited about what I had hoped would become a new Christmas family tradition. Having seen the previews for Disney's new movie Bedtime Stories, I had planned for all of us to go to the movie Christmas night. After several hectic days of cooking, eating, wrapping, opening, smiling for pictures, taking pictures, visiting with family, going to the next house...I thought this would be a calm way to end the day. I was excited. I LOVE to go to the movies, and we very rarely go as a family anymore.
We tried to go for the 8:00 show. Sold out. This should have been my first clue, but we went ahead and bought tickets for the 9:30 show. #2 was pumped about getting to go a "late movie" - that would be a first for her! So we returned to the theater an hour and a half later with tickets in hand. (Picture me at this point rubbing my palms together in glee.) Armed with a large Coke and a box of chocolate-covered raisins, we headed into our theater. This should have been my second clue. The noise level was such that I was afraid we might not be able to find four seats together, but when we rounded the corner, the theater wasn't even half full. We settled into our seats about four rows from the top (just where I like to sit), but noticed quickly that most people weren't settling anywhere. Large groups of teenagers would sit down in one area, only to get up a few minutes later and move to another one, all the while yelling at friends on the opposite side. I'm reminding my girls not to put their feet on the seats in front of them, and the kids around us are cussing & yelling. My girls are rolling their eyes at me, while I'm saying a prayer of thanks for private schools. Surely it would get better once the movie started, right?!? About halfway through the previews, the manager came in with a sheriff's deputy and about six employees. He gave a speech about theater etiquette, while the dudes in burgundy vests checked ticket stubs. No problem. Daughter #1 said they did the same exact thing when she went to see Twilight last month. The movie begins. Granted, the volume was too low, even for a calm theater, but with the noise all around us, you couldn't hear a thing. We were surrounded by the most obnoxious, inconsiderate, rude, unruly, disrespectful, and selfish group of teenagers I have ever been around in my life. The sheriff's deputy came back in, either yelling at people to put their cell phones away, or asking them to leave. Burgundy-vest-dudes tried to keep the theater quiet, but the "patrons" only argued with them. About fifteen minutes into the picture, when another sheriff's deputy came in, surely to eject them, we knew it was time to leave. (Picture me now with steam coming out of my ears.) The manager, bless his heart, was happy to refund the money for both our tickets and concessions. Honestly, I feel bad for him and his staff. They were fighting a losing battle. I think every family in that theater left. I can't tell you a single thing about the fifteen minutes of the movie that I sat through.
Lesson Learned: DON'T GO TO THE MOVIES ON CHRISTMAS DAY IN ALBANY, GA.

Disclaimer:
We had a wonderful Christmas Day with family. Happy Christmas post to come tomorrow, after I go see my movie. :-)

4 comments:

tammi said...

ooooh. tell me about it.

This post made my blood pressure rise just reading it, because the SAME THING happened to me last week!! ARGH!!
Casey and I went to see Yes Man and there were about 10 teenagers that kept walking in and out, and then sitting down and talking loudly amongst themselves. The cop didn't come in, but it was SOooo annoying.

Even when the guy sitting behind us turned around and told them to "shut the f*** up" they still kept talking. Casey refrained me from throwing my cup of ice at them because i was SO going to. I was completely LIVID.

No wonder they lowered their ticket prices. They're probably losing customers because of that problem.

jamie b said...

Matt says it's not just movies on Christmas Day in Albany...it's everyday. Such a shame!

Mrs. N. said...

No, that's not necessarily true, Matt. I go to the movies fairly often, and have been twice since this, and never encountered a situation remotely close to this. The manager said it's a Christmas Day thing. When we left, he said last Christmas Day was even worse; don't know if he still agreed with this statement by the time they kicked EVERYBODY out or not. I guess because NOTHING else is open on Christmas Day, it's the ONLY place for them to hang out.

tammi said...

Hey, this is a good post.

You should think about submitting it to the Albany Journal.


LOL