Mom gets caught in lie about her "13-year-old" sons' real ages, movie theater employee maliciously complies: 'This woman was... short with me thoughout the whole transaction'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 7, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Have you ever told a little white lie about your age to get into somewhere for cheaper? It seems like a rite of passage for many kids. Your parents will take you somewhere where younger children are charged less money than older kids, like an amusement park, a buffet, or a movie theater. They'll whisper to you to tell the employee working there that you're younger, and then you do, saving your parents a few of their hard-earned dollars. It's a pretty low-stakes kind of rule-breaking, and most employees just look the other way instead of correcting parents. Most employees, that is. Because if that parent is acting completely impolite to the worker, what obligation does the worker have to help them out? 

This mom messed around and found out at her local movie theater and her lesson cost her $12. Live and learn… Being kind to retail workers isn't just the right thing to do, but it can also really pay off. 

Up next, you can witness what happened when a restaurant customer spotted a maintenance man standing on the food prep area at a local taco spot, only to be told that the workers "usually" clean that area: "Is this standard procedure?" 

Advertisement
  • 01
    So this happened about 10 years ago when I worked at the box office of a movie theatre (before automated machines were the norm). Adult tickets (14+) were $11.99, kids (3-13) were $9.50 and kids under 3 were free.
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 02
    I had a woman come to my till with two kids. Now, these kids looked to be about 15, though it can be hard to tell sometimes. As many kids don't carry any kind of ID, the rule of thumb was to sell either a kids ticket or adult ticket based on how old the adult told us the kids were. Many people would ab e this and say the kids were 13 in order to save a few bucks. Typically, I didn't care as I understood the prices were pretty high and this was a big
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 03
    chain so a few older kids getting cheaper tickets wasn't a big deal. What was different this time is that the woman was very r de throughout the whole transaction. We have a series of questions we have to ask throughout the transaction (loyalty program etc.) and we would randomly get scored by mystery shoppers to ensure we were following the script. This woman was annoyed and short with me throughout the
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 04
    whole transaction when I was being super friendly and just trying to do my job. When we got to the part about what kind of tickets she needed, it went something like this: Me: How old are the kids? Her: Why? Me: So I know whether they need kids tickets or adult tickets. Her: What is the difference?
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 05
    Me: Adult tickets are for 14+ and are $11.99, kids tickets are for 3- 13 and are $9.50. Her: Oh, they're 13. Me: Okay, and which film would you like to go see today? Her: [whatever film it was, I can't remember anymore] Me: Okay, no problem, for 2 kids and 1 adult that will be $30.99 total.
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 06
    CINEMA TICKET CINEMA TICKET CINEMA TICKET
    via Unsplash+ Community For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 07
    Her: Actually, I am not going with them, I am just dropping them off. Me: Unfortunately, this movie is 14A, which means you have to be either 14 or accompanied by an adult to see it. Her: Well, they're 14. Me: You just told me they're 13.
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 08
    Her: They're actually 14, I just didn't want to pay the price for adult tickets. Me: Unfortunately you told me they're 13. Unless you have ID that shows they are 14, I have to assume what you first told me was correct and cannot allow them to watch this movie unsupervised as it is 14A.
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 09
    Her: This is ridiculous, so what are my options? Me: They can either go to a different movie that is not 14A, or you will have to buy a ticket and accompany them to this one.
    via u/nevernotbethinking
  • 10
    After a lot of back and forth about options, she finally decided to bite the bullet and buy an adult ticket to accompany them. I like to think she spent the next 2 hours reflecting on how her attempt to save $5 ended up costing her $11.99 and 2 hours of her time. Realistically, she likely bought the ticket, accompanied them into the theatre, and then left them there to watch the movie while she went shopping. Either way, it still cost her the extra $11.99 for her ticket!
    via u/nevernotbethinking

    She paid the price for her impoliteness! Even though it was only $12, that's still the cost of a lunch out or a new shirt. If only every impolite customer had to pay a literal price for snapping at retail workers, the world would be a much happier place. 

  • 11
    乳
    via Andrej Lišakov For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 12

    A few people had their own stories to share

    DeepRiverDan267 In our cinema a few years ago, your ticket was only checked at the security point entrance to all the cinemas, past the ticket booths. So you could watch whatever movie you wanted to, once you get past the security point.
    via u/DeepRiverDan267
  • 13
    If it wasn't a busy weekday (you could see how many seats were available for each movie at the ticket booth) you could just go and watch whatever movie you wanted, and no one would bother you about moving. My friends and I did it once or twice to skip the age restrictions, and I doubt they've ever done anything to fix that system
    via u/DeepRiverDan267
  • 14
    lipp79 I had a lady do that with me when I was 20 and worked at a movie theater back in 1999. "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut" had just come out and our theater head office sent out a notice that we were to fully enforce the "no one under 17 without an adult" because it was R- rated. Lady came in with two boys who couldn't have been more than 9 or 10. She
    via u/lipp79
  • 15
    asked for two tickets for that movie. I asked which two of them the tickets were for and she said "Them. I'm going shopping while they watch the movie." I informed her of the policy and then pointed to a printed-out copy of it posted next to each ticket booth. She was not happy and said she wanted to speak to a manager. I said "Okay but he will tell you the exact same thing" and pointed her to the
    via u/lipp79
  • 16
    manager window. She stomped over, had an animated conversation with him and then stomped back and paid for 3 tickets while muttering to herself and walked to that theater with the boys. The manager came over and said, "I'm going to make sure she stays". Sure enough, about 15 min later he caught her trying to sneak out and he kicked them all out.
    via u/lipp79

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

Kids-Teens teens teenager teenagers movie theater movies raising teens ticket tickets parents
Scroll Down For The Next Article