Panic at the Movie Theatre!

Eve and I just got home from the movies (Big Hero 6). We went with three of her friends and three of mine, with a not-exact breakdown of parent-to-related child ratio, which isn't really important so I'm not even sure why I just tried to figure out a way to describe it. We were all roughly in the middle of the theatre, the four girls in front of the three adult women and one adult male.

Photo by Carlos Garcia |Campillo
We got there pretty early because a couple of weeks ago I took Eve and her friend from next door to see The Book of Life and the theatre was super short-staffed and we didn't get into the movie until two minutes before the movie started which stresses me the fuck out and there were almost no seats left, which was okay except some douchey couple dragged their five little girls in fifteen minutes after the movie started, bustled up to the top row where we were and started calling out asking people to move so their kids could sit down, then left and sat somewhere else while the five little girls whispered and went to the bathroom five times and spilled snacks and jumped up and down until I snarled at one (I didn't actually snarl, I just said "please sit down" quite firmly).

I was focused on not letting this kind of thing happen again. Of course, I can't control the actions of douchey people, but I could get us there early so maybe we would could sit in a less douche-accessible area. 

It seemed to go pretty well. I thought any late-arriving presumptuous douches would have trouble accessing us in the middle where we were. And we had a bit of a wait, but I hadn't seen my one friend in months, so hey, more time to catch up.

We had a lovely chat. It seemed like we had been sitting there for quite a while, but not in a bad way.

The movie was supposed to start at 1:30.

We checked our phones. It was 1:40.

Someone from the theatre came in at 1:45 and said they were having some technical difficulties and it would be ten or fifteen more minutes. We weren't overly upset, since our friends still had time to make it to their family dinner, and our kids were still happily chatting. The people with small children were less sanguine. There were bathroom breaks. There was crying and complaining. There was mutiny among the troops. 

Twenty minutes later, the gentleman came back in and said it would be fifteen to twenty minutes more, MAX, before the movie started, OR we could go to the 3D one at 2:40 (too late for our friends to still make their family dinner, plus I loathe 3D), OR we could get our money back.

Eve and Marielle asked if they could get Dippin Dots. Caitlin and her friend asked for popcorn. Did I mind that we were now basically rewarding the theatre for making us wait for our movie? A little, but not as much as you might think.

We talked some more. The front section of the theatre where the birthday party was set up devolved into something resembling Lord of the Flies. I asked Eve if, in the event that it got too late, she wanted to go to the 3D movie or wait and see it with Marielle next week-end. She said she would wait. 

We were just on the verge of having to bail, and the movie started. I thought the movie was fantastic - I laughed out loud and cried three times, not including the time I cried during the beginning short. As we were leaving the theatre (they refunded everyone's money, even the people who stayed and saw the movie), the parents with small children looked like battle-weary soldiers fresh from the wars.

Sometimes I miss the little hands and baby voices and hilariously mispronounced words and lapful of toddler. 

Sometimes having older kids is a really good deal. 

(A mother and two kids did, in fact, squeeze in right next to me after the movie had started and there was some phone fiddling and loud talking. I might have to avoid the movie theatre for a while until the douche-magnetism  wears off).

Comments

Mary Lynn said…
It was a cute movie, wasn't it. Though my kids kept laughing at me every time I flinched during a scene involving characters falling from a great height. After the movie they kept walking around saying, "This is mom!" and then they do a sort of jumping motion and yell, "Ack!"

But I still liked the movie despite everything.
StephLove said…
I don't really want to go back either, despite occasional nostalgia. One in middle and one in elementary school suits me fine.
Sasha said…
Yeah, I'm enjoying the whole able-to-drive-to-Kitchener-without-changing-diapers thing. And I'm sure there are other perks in store too. I had a bit of the baby crazies a few months ago, can't remember why, but there was a certain amount of "but surely I'd be an EXPERT by now!!" Wore off though. I think I'll be good with being an expert Grandma :)
slow panic said…
I LOVED the short! It made me cry.

I hadn't been in a movie with hundreds of small children in a long time. Our crowd was fairly submissive considering their age.

It definitely made me happy I was through that stage and my kids are older now.


Maggie said…
Saw the movie last weekend too and loved it. And yes, I also cried. Damn it Pixar.

The thought of hosting a birthday movie party and having the movie delayed by an hour is enough to cause me to have to breathe into a paper bag. I don't do well with that kind of thing and freely admit I do not "hang loose" or whatever. Oldest probably would have been fine with such a delay, Youngest would be a toss up. She's only 5 so I suspect I probably would have ended up leaving with her pissing her off to no end. Poor Youngest.
Lynn said…
Hm...am rethinking going to see it. I have heard it's sad, and I have two out of three that are VERY sensitive to sad, and I asked someone if they could at least confirm that the robot makes it, so I can be all "but no! it's going to be okay! the robot will BE FINE!!" during the movie, but they said they could not confirm this, so...we were thinking not. But if you feel we will be pop culturally scarred by missing it then...hm.

Perhaps there will be a whole Pixar category at WTN and you will rock it.

Oh, speaking of WTN (because apparently I use your comments section as my own personal email now), I have the usual TON of candy so pack lightly :).
Lynn said…
Forgot to mention: why were they letting a whole other family into the theatre after it started, when it started like 45 minutes late? Was that family planning on coming in at the 45 minute mark? Or did they happen to arrive awkwardly between movie times, and lucked into the late start? My mind is REELING with the mystery. I MUST KNOW.
Lola said…
YOU are my flipping twin when it comes to movies. I go to most of my movies during the day now when there are only a few old people and me-let's go one day!

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