'She got what she wanted': Movie theater employees get back at thieving customers' gross habit

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 30, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

One customer has a trick for getting free movie theater treats, and you're not going to like it one bit. I wish I'd never heard of such a foul life hack. But here we are. 

There are plenty of ways to sneak food into movie theaters. In fact, as some older generations have pointed out in discussions of the topic, theaters used to actually police what you brought in. They used to make you throw out the candy stuffed into your mom's purse. These days, the employees mainly check bags for safety purposes. Your ill-begotten Sour Patch Kids and Skittles are perfectly harmless, and the employees will look you in the eyes and tell you to go ahead into your theater. It feels like the customer and the employees are in cahoots, battling a silent war against the high prices of candy. 

Harder to reproduce is the deliciousness of movie-theater popcorn. You can't really sneak that in, so you have to buy it at the concession stand. Well… actually, you don't have to buy it, as some very grimy customers taught u/Brellince, a movie theater worker. At least on one occasion, they got to watch their coworker get some sweet revenge on one of them. 

Check out this grimy story below. Then, read about these workplace meltdowns, like "the cabinet incident." 

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  • 01
    Karen asked for a soda, well she got what she wanted. Not my story but happened right next to me with a coworker.
    via u/Brellince
  • 02
    We work at a theater where let's be fair, the prices for concessions are pretty dumb. I understand that the prices can be expensive when items stack up. What I get annoyed by is when customers treat the employees like garbage because they think we dictate the prices.
    via u/Brellince
  • 03
    Speaking of garbage! So to curb the cost of optional food for your movie, some big brain customers decide to dig out other peoples buckets/large drinks from the trash... yeah.
    via u/Brellince
  • 04
    People do this because large items like popcorn and soda get free refills after purchase. They'll sometimes go to the bathroom and wash it out, others they'll just it and take the nasty say stuff as is.
    via u/Brellince
  • 05
    So a Karen pulls this same stunt with a large drink an employee SAW her take out. She walks all high and mighty over to the counter and demands, "Give me a sprite with no ice, new lid and straw." I never know if it's a refill that they actually bought or not so I never call out a theft unless it's super obvious.
    via u/Brellince
  • 06
    My coworker on the other hand is a b.a.m.f and can sniff out these entitled ;. So my coworker takes the drink and gives her soda...water
    via u/Brellince
  • 07
    Fills the cup with 99% of soda water and a splash of ice T as an extra you. She smugly smiles at us and then walks away.
    via u/Brellince
  • 08
    I walk around the corner to see her take a sip and immediately throws the drink back into the hole from whence it came. Revenge is a drink best served bland and tasteless
    via u/Brellince
  • 09
    kempff Whose idea was it to decimate gross receipts with a free refill program? How hard is it to tape a sign to the back of the register reading "FREE REFILLS WITH SAME-DAY RECEIPT"?
    via u/kempff
  • 10
    Tophertanium Our local theater has a tab on the popcorn container so once you get a refill, you can't use it again. A surprising amount of people don't use their refill. So after the movie is over, I grab the empty containers. on top, load up, and take them home to watch another movie with fresh movie popcorn.
    via u/Tophertanium
  • 11
    tjienees It could be the language barrier but a thing I noticed in your story: The Karen said "Give me a sprite no ice..." And your colleague gave soda water... That's not really MC right? That's just up an order/playing a prank. Soda water is plain
    via u/tjienees
  • 12
    sparkling water right? It just looks the same. If she said "Give me a soda no ice..." and your colleague gave Soda water, it would be MC. Besides that: just disgusting how people pick out used cups out of the trash ( man?!)
    via u/tjienees
  • 13
    SalbaheJim Seems to me that if they just offered free refills to members using an app, the app can be scanned to verify previous purchase and authorize the free refill. You wouldn't even have to register an app to enable such a feature.
    via u/SalbaheJim
  • 14
    Waifer2016 omgosh that is SO gross on so many levels!
    via u/Waifer2016
  • 15
    tailaka Many years ago we had a $2 theatre that would let you bring your own bag and they'd fill it with popcorn for the same price as their little bags. So of course people are bringing all sizes of bag, up to Paper Grocery bag size. No problems until someone brought in a 20 Gallon paper bag. (Those 4
    via u/tailaka
  • 16
    ft tall bags for grass and leaves) He was a total about it and rather than introduce size restrictions, they cancelled the whole. thing.
    via u/tailaka
  • 17
    cretos i understand that movie theatre prices are excessive but what ghetto a area do you live in that people are taking out of the $ t garbage, and not only that but using it without rinsing. My god. Just bring your own S in if youre that worried about the prices, this is so disgusting
    via u/cretos
  • 18
    skolliousious Honestly if someone is that nasty, just give them the drink, what the company looses 20 cents because of their own bright policy,
    via u/skolliousious

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