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Being questioned by cinema staff about film choice...
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This has happened to me once, and I was just curious to know if it's happened to any of you.
On Dark Knight Rises opening day, me and a mate decided to go to the cinema - because I hadn't seen The Dark Knight, we decided to see Ice Age, and this happened:
Me: "Hi, can we have 2 teens for Ice Age 3D please"
Staff: "Sure-hang on, why aren't you seeing Batman?"
Me: "I haven't seen Dark Knight"
Staff: "Are you sure you don't want to see Batman?"
Me: ":mad: Yes."
It happened twice - the second time was when we had our tickets ripped.
I went to the preview screening of The Lorax the day after - same cinema, roughly same time - and they didn't seem to care.
On Dark Knight Rises opening day, me and a mate decided to go to the cinema - because I hadn't seen The Dark Knight, we decided to see Ice Age, and this happened:
Me: "Hi, can we have 2 teens for Ice Age 3D please"
Staff: "Sure-hang on, why aren't you seeing Batman?"
Me: "I haven't seen Dark Knight"
Staff: "Are you sure you don't want to see Batman?"
Me: ":mad: Yes."
It happened twice - the second time was when we had our tickets ripped.
I went to the preview screening of The Lorax the day after - same cinema, roughly same time - and they didn't seem to care.
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Comments
It could have been an informal survey that the bosses asked the staff to carry out.
It could have been a coincidence that you got two staff members who were Batman fans that were just making conversation or looking down on you.
I'm kidding, you can see whatever you want. It is a bit weird, but no worse than some guy I saw question a poor member of staff at my local cinema on which films were worth seeing, and whether "Killing Them Softly" was as awful as he had heard, for 5 minutes, twas rather awkward...
At which point my friends' all changed their minds and I still haven't seen TAS.
All I get is "Did you find everything you want?"
Either way, I'd be pissed off too. I can't stand nosy strangers or those who act like you're friends when you don't know them from Adam.
That's not the same to me. The HMV example just seems like staff being polite and is not intrusive in the least. The example the OP gave of the cinema staff reads like interrogation!
Staff: The Iron Lady'?
Me: Yes.
Staff: Are you sure? You'll be the youngest person in there by twenty years. (I'm not exactly a young thing by the way)
Me: Yes, I'm sure.
It was a pretty crap film, but I could still have done without the questions.
Perhaps they asked out of mild surprise that two teens were watching a kiddies film instead of The Dark Knight Rises? Why are you mad about it?
It's really bad how some people overstep the mark by such length and don't even realise it. Very irritating people.
Your next line should have been: "Can we have two teens for Ice Age 3D, please." Repeat until you get said tickets.
Whatever their reasons for asking doesn't make them any less nosy or rude. It's none of their bloody business, frankly. People should be able to see a film without feeling like they're being questioned by police.
Hopelessly naive if so though ("Who is this Bat Man you speak of - sounds ace!").
I''d be a bit surprised if I saw a teen try and buy tickets for Ice Age 3D, and Spiderman was out quite a few weeks before Batman, so maybe they were confused as to why you'd waited so long?
It is absolutely the cinema's business what you want to see, in fact it's the very definition of their business!
And? It's nothing to do with them, their job is to sell the customer a ticket for the film they want to see.
DIfferent people like different films. People need to mind their own business.
Some people need to stop being so precious, this information could help cinemas serve their customers a lot better in future, giving it to them is not going to take much out of your day.
If they were all businessman like people would probably complain that their servers were too rigid and didn't care about the customer.... I can't see what the fuss is about, it's not like the cinema stopped you from seeing the film, they just asked...
I don't know...sometimes it might be but some of the "chatting" described in this thread sounds intrusive enough that I would be very taken aback if faced with it myself.
The contrary argument is that some people don't like fake friendliness/care, which is likely corporate driven rather than sincere. Obviously, this should be taken on a case-by-case basis, because sometimes "chummy" conversation is genuine and spontaneous (and appreciated), but the way the OP describes their experience, it does sound intrusive and kind of herding. Personally, I just prefer it that what I ask for is given without fuss. Naturally, if I want to know about something, then I'll ask about it.