We can, I think, largely agree that the majority of the criticism leveled at millennials is the same criticism leveled at Gen Xers before us and has been leveled at young people everywhere since time immemorial, and also that it’s mostly overly generalized nonsense that usually only applies to a very small group of rich young white people who are related to New York Times columnists. Also, most of it is very silly, and the greatest problem facing our world today is not participation trophies, &etc., but I am willing to concede to them a single point: there are too many pre-movie warnings about texting in movie theaters.
Have you been to a movie lately? (If you’re not too busy showing up late and inappropriately dressed for job interviews and suing your professors over trigger warnings and not saving for retirement, I mean.) There are, I would estimate conservatively, between three and five requests to turn off your phone before the previews started. And they’re not just quick flashes on the screen to remind you! They’re mini-previews in themselves. They have design budgets. Here is just one of them:
But there’s never, ever just one of them. There’s two or three or four, and they all take different emotional tacks. One will be stern and schoolmarmish, the next one pleading, and yet another will dangle the carrot of using a theater-sponsored app to deliver a reward into your phone itself if you place it in Movie Mode for the next two hours. You guys!!
I don’t think it’s exclusively young people who are texting during movies, obviously, but these embarrassing-for-all-concerned entreaties are clearly geared toward the under-30s. There is one (AMC, I think) that repeatedly refers to people who turn off their phones at the movies as heroes. With capes! It is too much, I am sorry that we as a generation did not defeat Hitler and I guess I am sorry that you feel like this is how hard you have to beg us to get us to comply with movie etiquette now.
But people are either going to turn their phones off or not, I think, and if one warning at the beginning of the previews doesn’t do it, I don’t think a series of short films begging us to “please, ignore the small screen in your pocket for the big screen you came here to see” is going to do the trick.
It’s like my friend Natalie, right, whose mom did her laundry right up until she left for college, which was ridiculous but I’m not her mom so I couldn’t exactly say anything about it, and she (the mom) would repeatedly beg and plead and cajole and wheedle her (the daughter) to bring her laundry down to the basement so she (the mom and laundry-doer) could launder her (the daughter and laundry-shirker) clothes more efficiently, and she just would not do it, because why should she? She can drive and she knows that her mom is going to do her laundry no matter what, so why not be shitty about it, and the point is if you think someone’s not going to do something, just ask once and then introduce consequences into the situation if they don’t do what they’re supposed to. It’s too many movies, is what I’m saying, and it’s embarrassing that you, a multi-million-dollar chain of theaters, have been reduced to calling me a “champion” for turning off my phone. It demeans us both, you know?
Just do the one warning, is what I’m saying! A quick flash on the screen that’s like, “Turn off your phone during the movie,” is all you need, and if people don’t do it then, five animated videos about the Importance Of Turning Off Cell Phones aren’t going to do the trick, and they will just have to learn from the chilly sting of social disapproval, you know? Like, they shouldn’t, obviously, I am in complete agreement with the turning-off of phones during movie, the glare is super distracting, I am with you in wholeness of heart here. But don’t keep knocking on Natalie’s door and being like “Sweetie? Did you bring your hamper downstairs?” when you know that she hasn’t and she never has to face consequences when she doesn’t do it and it’s making me feel super uncomfortable watching you guys fight about it knowing that she’s going to get her way no matter what happens. Be better than that!
So that’s the one thing you guys kind of have on us, but also it’s not entirely our fault, if you’re expending so much useless energy trying to get us to do what you want.
ETA: TO CLARIFY, I do not believe texting during movies is a uniquely millennial act, but I DO believe the people making these ads BELIEVE that it is, and also that they need to alternately wheedle, praise, flatter, coerce, beg, and bribe us in order to get us to stop, rather than just YELLING ONCE and leaving it at that.
My local theater (a Regal cinema, no less) sometimes has one or zero of these! I have no idea why the number is so inconsistent?
Although my fave example of Jerks in a Theater is the guy sitting behind me in a sold-out matinee whose phone vibrated, and he ANSWERED IT. “Yeah? Nothing much, just watching a movie.” I turned around and said out loud, “Are you SERIOUS?” as his friends inched away from him on either side. He didn’t make eye contact, but said “I gotta go” and hung up.
What. The fuck.
You are my hero.
When I saw HP and the Half Blood Prince in theaters, a lady answered her phone during the movie, and her end of the conversation was basically, “Yeah… Yeah… At the movie… Dumbledore just died!!”
wtf, lady?? It was appalling.
I sat in front of someone who answered their phone during a wedding. As the bride came down the aisle. And she was no Millennial, either. That was about ten years ago and it remains one of the rudest things I have ever witnessed.
SO WRONG. Wow. That may be the rudest ‘don’t take the call now’ thing I’ve ever heard.
I was at a wedding where this happened. One of the ushers, so he was up at the front of the church and was completely wasted to boot. (he was a cousin of the groom and he felt like he had to ask him, poor guy.)
I’ve got a friend who, when a man refused to stop talking on his phone at a movie theatre after several requests, grabbed the phone, said “He’ll call you back,” and hung up. The guy didn’t get back on his phone, but once the movie ended, got up and started to make a threatening approach to my friend.
Luckily, my friend was at the movie with his university’s science fiction club as an outing, and the man backed down and left quietly after twenty-three people stood up and looked at him.
Now I want to go to movies with a 23-person posse at all times, in hopes that one of us will get to call out a rude person so we can all be backup.
My favorite phone story: about ten years ago, before people learned that no one should ever hear your phone’s ringtone because it should always be on vibrate, I was at a Yefim Bronfman (pianist) concert. Someone’s phone rang, and they quickly silenced it. A few minutes later, it rang again, and they silenced it again. The third time it rang, Bronfman stops playing in the middle of his piece, turns to peer out toward the audience, says, “Tell zem I am not here,” turns back, and resumes playing. It was amazing.
Bless you, you spoke for all of us and we appreciate it.
I have a story, too! I was sitting behind a woman (not a Millennial) who was just perusing her enormous phone with its giant, bright screen during the movie. Scrolling, reading, pondering… you know. Whatever. it was a shitty movie so I couldn’t blame her (Jurassic Park 2). But then she MAKES A CALL and starts talking.
I submit that casually deciding to MAKE a call during a movie is much worse than answering a call.
Two middle-aged women were doing this shit recently when I saw The Visit. Then, when the movie got out they complained to the ushers by the door that they had gone to that movie thinking it was “that Meryl Streep one”. Apparently they decided to just sit it out messing around on their phones rather than go get refunds or whatever. There were a bunch of teenagers talking through that whole movie too, so no generations were positively represented except mine.
When we went to go see Jupiter Ascending there were a bunch of talking teens in front of us, and talking middle aged women behind and I was like ‘oh no’. The teens went quiet when the lights went down, but the ladies behind us talked THE WHOLE TIME and not even about the movie. Just about whatever.
Actually the teens where a delight. When [spoiler] sexy space dude proposes to Jupiter one of the teens went ‘EWWWWWWWW that’s his MUM!’ thus giving voice to my feelings on the matter.
I had to once go stand in front of a group of teenagers at the movie and really wearily be like, “Look, I don’t want to have to go get an usher to kick you guys out, but we all know that’s what is gonna happen if you don’t shut the fuck up, so could you either do that for me or leave?” It worked surprisingly well.
Teenagers : Surprisingly Reasonable Sometimes
I only regret that have but one thumb to give.
This reminds me of an article about how a NYC restaurant was losing revenue due to a slow table turnover rate… because ordering took longer due to people updating their statuses, and eating took longer because of people taking too many GD pics of their food.
Also: “I am sorry that we as a generation did not defeat Hitler.” ~ brilliant, thanks.
I’m pretty sure that story was made up though. There is no way things were taking as much longer as they claimed just because of phones. I got kind of weird about it and started watching people around me and there really aren’t that many people taking tons of food pics or asking for group photos.
I’d say it depends. I remember seeing the article, but I don’t remember what the restaurant itself was, but one issue I think NYC struggles with in that regard is tourists. I was recently in NYC with friends, and we went to some “secret” burger place which was chock full of tourists, and the place was tiny and packed and tables were turning over super slowly because people were legitimately spending A LOT of time taking photos with/of their burgers. But that was a tourist/general human issue, not a millennial-specific one.
I just looked up the piece and it was posted on the very legitimate website craigslist so… yeah, you’re right 🙂
What a random bit of internet curmudgeonry though.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/smartp…
This daily news piece ran after the craigslist one:
http://dineability.com/busy-nyc-restaurant-solves…
I bet at a particular kind of restaurant, it is a problem.
It just feels like one of those things where the issue is not the existence of smart phones and social media, but of the “if you’re taking forever to do restaurant stuff, order another round of something and tip well” etiquette not being observed. Like, a long time spent looking at a menu is the same time whether you’re poking at facebook or catching up with an old friend in person or your brain is just hangry and indecisive.
Yeah in my years of serving I suffered through so many middle aged women who hadn’t seen each other in AGES and wouldn’t order for nearly an hour, or people who camp on tables after their meal is over while they suck at the melty dregs of their drinks, usually aren’t on phones. They can through your whole section off for a night, but an extra 10 minutes total of a table messing with their phones never had the same effect on my income.
I met my middle-aged friends for a couple of hours and like, one margarita each last night. I’m always like, “we are only here for drinking, we are taking forever, bring me the bill whenever so I can add on an appropriate tip and not make you worry we’re the most horrible table in your section.”
Oh my God I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to do that. I have always felt very entitled to whatever table I’m at. I’ve noticed that after a certain point I just get ignored by the waitstaff and figure that’s mutually fine.
I’ve never had a job that involved service or tips, so I’m blind to a lot of these issues.
A+ trolling.
oh and they’d always be so, SO PISSED if you didn’t check in every three minutes. It became my stated policy that if someone was on their phone when they sat down, I would not approach the table until the call ended.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come get my drink order!”
“You were clearly on a very important call, and I didn’t want to interrupt your very important call.”
“…oh.”
there is absolutely a whole thing in DC of fancy restaurants getting pissy because people are taking so much time texting about their food and taking pictures of it that by the time they actually get around to eating it they’ve blown the turnover schedule and are complaining because the food is cold.
I don’t know that this is actually a real problem that exists, it sounds too ridiculous to be real, but it’s definitely one that lots of restaurant people THINK exists, and I should probably stop thinking ‘too ridiculous’ is a reason to disbelieve someone would do a thing with their phone.
on the one hand, of COURSE people take photos and post stuff when your restaurant is intentionally making itself a status thing with gorgeously presented food! like, you want that photo showing up on Yelp, right? on the other hand, complaining the food is cold? really? REALLY?
I wonder how much of this is more just the “DC Tourist” problem and the “Business Dinner” problem. I mean, DC tourists are especially terrible, and they would be like that even if they didn’t have their phones out. and Business Dinners exist to take more time than it usually takes to eat. And what percent of DC Fancy Restaurant patrons are ordinary locals just going out for a nice meal?
Jeebus. There aren’t even any decent restaurants (or decent food carts) in DC near the tourist attractions. So I doubt these slow eaters are tourists.
I totally believe it happens sometimes, maybe even nightly in tourist towns, but to the extent that the Craigslist post guy claims? Nah. I don’t believe the whole video evidence thing either. 🙂
Pfffft. People using their phones at their table does not create any slower table turnover than people talking more than eating, even after their plates are cleared away. I’ve been a server at a popular restaurant with limited tables, and there are plenty of diners who will hold their table for ages solely for the pleasure of each other’s company, with no assistance from their phones.
Yup for sure, and while I do understand that is rather annoying for the waitstaff, it’s kiiiiind of part of the service of a restaurant. One of the big reasons people go to restaurants is because it’s a social activity. I can certainly see how that is annoying, buuuuut providing a meal that people can take their time savouring and enjoying it and socializing is the reason that restaurants exist for a lot of people.
Oh, I wasn’t actually complaining! I agree that it’s people’s prerogative to stay and talk at their table. I never actually resented anyone keeping me from flipping a table (I usually made sure to keep their glasses refilled, and they usually acknowledged it in their tip). The only exception was when a couple stayed an hour past closing, after everyone else was gone and we’d done all our chores and the kitchen staff came out too and sat at the dining tables with us, as we all stared and waited for them to leave so we could go home (and most of us had been working for twelve hours).
But yeah, I mean, I’ve come back to that same restaurant when I was no longer working there, but met a friend for dinner and we were there an hour and a half. Never felt guilty (nor did the waiters seem testy about it).
Oh yes! Sorry I kind of just happened to reply to your comment as the thought occurred to me. Sorry! My comment was more directed to the random owners of restaurants or writers of articles who complain about slow turnover for people taking photos of their food or chatting or whatever.
I read “flipping a table”differently from how it was meant, I think.
Lol, that’s fair.
This is why the Alamo Drafthouse has got it right.
I know not everyone has been to the Alamo Drafthouse but they have the BEST no texting/talking policy (they will absolutely kick you out for it) and their no texting PSAs are wonderful. The Ann Richards one is a classic. https://youtu.be/PUqLWTQCeHM I would gleefully watch 6 of them in a row. Perhaps the problem with other chains’ no texting requests is that there is nothing to back them up, whereas at the Drafthouse you know that if you write a little complaint note your server will get a manager ASAP. (I actually got a warning once for screaming too much during a Terror Tuesday horror movie, but it was probably warranted)
The Drafthouse has ruined me on most all other theaters. Sure, the food and drinks are a nice bonus, but being assured that I can enjoy a movie without constant chatter and disruptions? BLESS.
magnited states
that woman deserved everything she got
for the unfamiliar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs
I love the Coach Taylor one: “How am I supposed to give my inspirational speech!”
I’m slowly coming to the conclusion that if I care enough about seeing a movie to see it in theaters, I should just go ahead and see it at Alamo Drafthouse. Though even there, there was a group of older couples (i.e. not millennials) talking at near-full volume during MAD MAX. Like, what? I have to say, I really enjoy writing the little “make them shut up” notes, though.
I just went to a movie*, and the mid-50s? 60ish? woman in front of us was the only person I saw pull out a phone. I wanted to don my Cape of Millennial Righteousness and throw her phone into the darkness. But I didn’t.
*The Martian. Overall, quality flick. They did, however, cast a white girl as Mindy Park. Newp.
I don’t know if it’s the same in the novel, but is the Chinese intervention as much a part of it? A friend brought up how a bunch of material was added to the Chinese release of Iron Man 3 and we wondered if they beefed up that content a bit for The Martian’s wide release?
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I did read* the book, and the Chinese intervention is definitely a big part!
*listen to
It was about the same in the novel. I’m actually surprised they didn’t add more to the movie for the Chinese market for the Martian.
It’s not really all that expanded from the book — the book does explicitly have them say that they aren’t just doing it because science people have to stick together or w/e, they want a Chinese guy on Mars, and it’s just a straight up trade. Since the book is supposed to be a semi-plausible extrapolation from current spaceflight technology, it makes sense for it to be China instead of any other country — as of now it’s the US, Russia, and China that have the capability for manned spaceflight, but the US works pretty closely with Russia for launches and they would likely have a very good idea of anything was available, and China’s is wrapped up in a lot more political/military secrecy, so it’s plausible they might have more capability for launch than is publicly available. Hints of the tit-for-tat are still in the movie (that’s who the pilot is giving a thumbs up to in the launch at the end, and why the Chinese counterparts are at that launch), but the change to make it less obvious pretty clearly might have been to make it more palatable to China.
It’s pretty equally significant in both. The book and the movie were remarkably similar, actually. Really the main difference between the two is the movie actually tones down a lot of the disasters in the book, which I guess I can understand as much as I would have liked to see an extra hour or two of Matt Damon blowing himself up.
I was at a flamenco show recently and there was maybe a 40-50ish guy on his phone texting the whole time? To be fair, he did have it all the way dim, and it didn’t really bother me, but it is something I noticed.
Yeah, I was totally thrown by the casting! The first time Mindy came on screen I was like “WAIT, I thought Mindy was supposed to be Korean? Did I miss something? Am I the REAL racist here? ??????”
But no. As usual, it is Hollywood who is the real racist.
I enjoyed that film (without having read the book, though I’ve been told the book is delightful) and I thought the Mindy Park thing was a real bum note. The film otherwise does a decent job displaying diversity (lots of Black scientists, a lady who’s Mission Commander for a mixed-gender, mixed-race crew)…why couldn’t they get that one last thing right?
Yeah, that was my feeling, too. Like, the book itself did name/gender its characters in such a way that the cast would have to be multiracial, but…come on, could you really not find a Korean-American actress?
I go to movies that attract mostly Olds. Some fairly cretinous smartphone behavior, not a lot. Of course a group of 30 is a large one for the movies I see in theaters, so tiny sample size.
To be fair: the last time I was annoyed with someone using their phone during a movie, it was some middle-aged white guy during “12 Years a Slave” and when I politely whispered to him to put it away, he turned around and yelled “GO FUCK YOURSELF” in my face while his wife tried to pretend she didn’t notice.
The “kids these days” thing that confuses me is when teens/20-somethings will bring a whole LAPTOP so they can watch anime while they’re waiting for the movie to start. Like…what? I guess it isn’t obtrusive, but it always seems weird and cumbersome to me.
hooooly crap! that is some next-level asshole behavior on the part of the middle-aged white guy (because of COURSE it was a middle-aged white guy). I probably would have decked him, or at least I like to think I would have.
I have personally never seen snake people bring laptops to movies? But I agree that it seems weird.
It was like a double-layer of asshole. On the one hand, it’s that terrifying, sudden loud male anger that is grossly out of proportion with the situation. On the other hand, DUDE. You are a middle-aged WHITE GUY. In a theater for “12 Years a Slave.” And you’re acting like an entitled dick. Get some self-awareness.
If you’re waiting for a late showing or midnight showing, being in line for a while can suck (I’ve brought my tablet and watched entire films waiting for midnight shows). For just before films, it’s often because of social anxiety. If you’re busy on your computer, no one will bug you, right?
I like to get to movies early to get a good seat, and I like watching previews. My BF is much more of a “Get there when the lights go down” kind of guy, though since my way results in better seats he has come to see the wisdom of getting there early. But often during the commercials prior to the previews we will play a game together on my tablet or our phones to pass the time (we do this while waiting for a table or even food at restaurants too)
I sometimes inadvertently bring my laptop to movies because my favorite coffee shop is right next to a theater, and if I remember a movie is playing that I want to see while I’m there, I’ll just take all my work crap into the theater with me. This has led to occasions where, since I didn’t plan ahead for the movie and it doesn’t start for another half an hour, pulling my laptop out and continuing what I was doing (or futzing, messing around, lollygagging, or killing time, as the case may be) until the lights dim. It’s happened a bit too often now for me to call it a fluke, so… I guess I’m a movie computer snake person?
The illustration for this piece should have been the chairbound, screenglued people from Wall-E. Wrong Pixar flick. 🙂
Except that it’s most white Americans, not just millenials.
I was next to the two Worst Moviegoers Ever for The Martian a couple weeks ago (there’s a theme here). For the first few minutes, one of them had his phone out, the screen fully bright. My husband Scott politely asked him to turn it off, and he reassured Scott that it was fine, Scott could still pay attention. OK! Then during one of the big climactic scenes near the end, the two WMsE started talking and would. Not. Stop, even after I said, “Hey, do you guys think you could maybe stop talking?” That’s when one spluttered, “Well, why didn’t you just stay home?”
…Because I’m at the movies.
And SCENE.
UUUGGHHH, yes, I am all fine for reducing the number of ads telling people to put the phones away, but maybe movie theaters should invest a little more energy/manpower in doing something about people who are being dicks? Because it sucks when asshole moviegoers won’t listen to other moviegoers, leaving the non-asshole people no alternative but to leave the movie to find an usher, who probably won’t even make the assholes leave anyway.
Right, and this is one of the only times I’ve ever considered leaving to find an employee to get these guys to shut up or even leave. I’ve never been next to such distracting people.
The worst part is probably that they’d asked me to move one seat down before the movie began so they could sit where they did. I should’ve just known and said “NO. NEVER.”
And this is why I don’t go to the movies very often! Movie theatres: not dealing with disruptive customers means you are losing money from some of us staying home to avoid them. I just don’t understand the mindset behind treating it like one’s living room. They’re adult human beings who are capable of shutting their mouths for a period of time!
UGH. That reminds me of the time I went to see the Kristen Stewart Snow White movie with a friend and the guy next to us had two VERY young kids who evidently didn’t speak English, as he was loudly translating everything that was happening to them into Spanish. Then the guy behind him started throwing popcorn at his head and they both stood up and started yelling at each other and almost got into a fight. Just what I want out of my moviegoing experience!
What the WHAT? *head explodes* Why did THEY pay to see a movie if they just wanted to chit-chat and look at their phones????
When I went to see Whiplash there was a lady sitting near me who kept on predicting what was going to happen throughout the entire movie. And during the final scene (which is super intense and amazing) she leaned over to her friend and LOUDLY WHISPERED “He’s going to say good job!” I just… ughhh. (I don’t know if it makes it better or worse but all of her predictions were wrong)
Oh, dear God. If someone had spoken during that scene at my screening, I 100% would have yelled at them post-movie.
I saw this posted on Facebook and based on the thumbnail was afraid that it would somehow be a piece excoriating my generation’s devout love of Up in general and dogs, Dug, fluffiness in particular. How was I to reconcile my love of everything Mallory with her hypothetical hatred of pure love distilled into fur shape? I rest easy now knowing I won’t have to face this decision.
I haven’t even seen Up, but I know enough to know about Dug and I, too, was worried about this.
YET
And, also Dug is the part of Up that makes me cry. Not sure what that says about me but I’m okay with that.
It says that you’re a good person.
But what consequences are we going to introduce into the situation? Is it public stoning? I hope it’s public stoning.
At least stoning of the device in question (possibly more traumatic for some than a stoning of their own bodies would be).
Guess I’m going to need to buy a fake beard then…
There’s an old episode of The Odd Couple where Felix and Oscar won’t stop bickering in a theater, so they’re pelted by Jujubes and “Chuckles”, which were that era’s version of Gummi candy. I can’t eat candy, but I’ve often wished I brought some along to pelt idiots who won’t stop talking or using their phone during the movie.
Bring back the pillory! This would be a perfect application: first, they have to spend the duration of the movie in a pillory device in the lobby, and then everyone leaving the theater after the movie is over gets to throw leftover popcorn and candy in their face.
Or pillories in the theatre, so that they physically cannot reach their phones?
“this is going to be a lot of fun for people with that program that replaces ~snake people~ with snake people”
It is! (Though I put ~tildes~ to help call out the substitution for myself, also I just like ~sarcastic tildes~.)
It and cloud -> butt are probably the most consistently chuckle-inducing of the substitutions I have set up. (“Store information in your own private butt!”)
I’m taking the bait… I’m taking the bait.
Am I the only one who realizes that being forced to get up in front of your peers and get handed a reminder that you came in dead last is in fact fucking humiliating and in no way “coddling our children”?
The greatest generation got born in the Depression and killed Hitler sure, but when they lost at kickball they were allowed to slink away and pretend it never happened.
oh, yeah, in fact I’m getting Toast comment deja vu just reading this 🙂 Kids are good at seeing through BS and participation trophies are a shining example.
Seriously! The only thing participation trophies taught us is to be skeptical of any and all praise that comes our way, as we probably didn’t earn it/it’s fake in the first place.
I love participation trophies. Why? Because when you have a job, if you all work very hard as a team and you still can’t meet the deadline or deliver the product, while you might end up fired and not invited back, you still get paid for the work you did (unless your bosses are evil scamming jerks). It also encourages people to keep working, because they think, well, yeah I got a trophy, but the people who won got BIGGER trophies! You’re not being punished for failure, you’re being rewarded for making an effort, and getting encouragement to do better.
That’s me, though.
At my first ever skating competition (at the age of 7), I received a ribbon for “honorable mention” and totally lost my shit because I knew it wasn’t a real award, and I found it insulting. So.
Also, I am pretty much of the opinion that the adults here are the problem for wanting to shield themselves/their kids from the disappointment of losing. It’s not like the kids are the ones going out and buying the damn participation trophies for themselves.
Nailed it. If kids are growing up entitled arseholes (hint: they’re not), then who raised them that way?
Once we had a baking contest in Girl Scouts and I made an applesauce spice cake that was one of my favorite desserts and one of my mom’s specialties. It’s not too sweet, but instead focuses on the spice aspect of cinnamon, cloves, etc.
My participation award was “Most Interesting Flavor.” I think we all know what that means about how the judges felt about my cake.
I know this isn’t relevant to the conversation, but that cake sounds amazing,
agreed with NeuroticChihuahua – that cake sounds ~~~amazing~~~ (those are tildes of sparkly emphasis, not sarcasm okay)
Do you maybe have a recipe somewhere? I love cakes and muffins with applesauce! it’s a thing my Nanny did with me, and when I went away to college the last thing we did was make applesauce apple muffins, and then when I visited during term break, we made more together (and they stayed fresh for so long, because of the applesauce!)
As I was typing I was just thinking that I needed to get the recipe from my mom. It was a wonderful cake, moist and full of flavor. Looking back, I think I loved it so much because even as a child I disliked frosting and this cake was all about Cake. Plus, probably like your muffins, recipes baked with family are just so much better.
I’d try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/10/spiced-app… I’ve never made a recipe of hers that’s turned out anything less than spectacular, so even though it has frosting, I’d give it a try. (Although, were I to make it, I think the temptation to add in a bit of cardamom would be too much to stand.)
Yay thank you! I am looking forward to the opportunity to try out that recipe. And it strikes me that though I don’t like frosting either, that cream cheese frosting sounds like a nice pairing. She even added cinnamon, which as I was scrolling down, I was thinking “I bet if you put cinnamon or nutmeg in the frosting, it would be even better…” 😀
It means too mature and sophisticated for their Strawberry Shortcake palates. I love your cake from its description. Yum.
Yes. As a kid I had to get up in front of the whole school and accept a reward for coming in last place in an athletic competition. It was the worst possible thing they could have done and they thought they were being NICE.
That is HORRIFYING. I am consistently baffled at how many adults just don’t seem to remember, at all, what childhood is like.
I am a cusper, so that means I got the meaningless participation ribbons on activity days, but also the humiliation of being picked last for teams in gym class (they don’t still get the kids to pick teams, do they?)
I just remembered that, in kindergarten, I got an award for “improving my speed in the bathroom”. I kind of wish I had held on to that…
That’s amazing. I think my kid holds a world record for longest time taken to pee so I’m inclined to see that as a genuine category.
My sheep got a fifteenth place ribbon at the county fair. Even at eleven years old I had the sense of humor to laugh about it. I think it might be my favorite prize.
There were eight girls in my primary school class. I remember this to tell you because the ‘eighth place’ ribbon was black. Yellow for first, blue for second, red for third, idk what the rest of them were but then black for eighth.
I mead tbh it was totally in-theme with my general aesthetic and I was going to say I wish I’d kept them all (so many. So many forced activities) but I feel sad about it still, even as a person who feels like they are doing ok in life and their primary school athletic achievements or lack thereof don’t matter. Actually I feel like I might cry rn so…
Yeah. Totally spoiled by all them participation medals!
This would make a good Modern Seinfeld episode.
It’ll be nice to get the variety in the deleted comments this article is sure to bring.
Also, concessions? Eh? Eh??????
Can I take this opportunity to complain about my newest pet peeve, blaming Millennials for things done by 71-year-olds?
I’ve seen at least one other article where someone pulled this, which I unfortunately can’t re-find, because I only need to find 3 examples to write my own generation-bashing trend piece.
There HAVE to be more of these. I will keep my eyes open!
I can’t read this one, but I looooove the subhed: His lawsuit dismisses former colleagues at Pimco as ‘money-driven.’ Oh, you know, those Millennials, they’re not driven by money! They’re really into “experience” and “exposure.”
Yeah, I can’t actually see the whole thing online, either (I saw this while visiting my family the other week in the actual physical newspaper), or I’d pull-quote the part for you where it goes off on the weird tangent about how SOMEBODY must have taught Millennials to be The Worst, and that somebody is people like this guy, so he’s basically a Millennial. It’s like, um, how are Millennials being dragged into this?
There was a Millennial-bashing article in the LA Times recently by Chris Erskine (he was all like, “Stop thinking you’re entitled you damn kids!”), one that prompted Twitter to start the hashtags #millennialpledge and #boomerpledge. Erskine then wrote another piece where he’s all like “I’m a millennial, too!” and something about them not being spanked, but, of course, he’s really a crotchety Baby Boomer.
Something like that?
YEP that sounds sufficiently “Words Have Lost All Meaning” and also awful.
Grab a sentence that you can see… plug it into Google. Nine times out of ten, you’ll be able to read the entire article you click thru to on your search.
What even, WSJ. God I hate this kind of journalism. It was very effective at making me too angry to want to see any more of the article, though.
When I was living in Paris I went to the movies once, and the pre-movie stuff was great. We were watching Mad Max: Fury Road so they showed all these American blockbuster trailers, and then some depressing French social dramas involving multiple lovers and deceit, presumably to balance them out. And then we thought we were in the wrong hall because a movie started. It was a mother and a father having a conversation in the supermarket, buying their food whilst the two boys ran riot around them.
This continued until they got into the car, the husband in the driver’s seat and he said something like ‘it just appeared out of nowhere, there was nothing I could do’. And then one of the boys said quietly, “Mummy? Remember he’s dead?” It turns out the entire short film was ad advert for safe driving. Just before Mad Max.
God, that sounds like that Australian (?) PSA that shows happy carefree teenagers cutting class, ignoring a posted sign to sneak onto a beach, and then being GRAPHICALLY torn apart by land mines. The point is that the sign would have warned them, but they couldn’t read it because they skipped class and were illiterate. So, rebellious teens, as long as you can read a posted sign, you’re probably sufficiently educated!
How is that not a PSA promoting better, more universally-understandable land-mine warning signs?
The idea of Land Mines in the Beach being a Thing in Australia is making me giggle hysterically, because I’m a terrible person.
Also, Land Mines in the Beach is a heck of a name for a cocktail.
Sex on the Beach used to be the tamest cocktail name I was willing to order. I’m not even remotely interested in male attention, but as a student, had no problem letting them buy me drinks–particularly the creepy ones. (The members of your sex are either creepy jerks or cowards who don’t tell the creepy jerks to knock it off. One of you is going to be catcalling me in the street later, you can buy me a drink and then learn from the disappointment.) Anyway, I always told them I wanted the most scandalous-sounding drink on the menu. ESPECIALLY if the bartender they had to order it from was another guy. Watching a guy with whom I wasn’t going to have sex squirm while he asked the barman for a screaming orgasm never ceased to amuse me.
Brilliant.
So much about this confuses me.
It’s everything you said it would be! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STHpMUYeznQ
Volkswagen did a movie theater commercial where they set up a location-based cell phone broadcaster into a theater–the audience is watching a preview commercial from the point of view of the driver, and suddenly cell phones throughout the audience start going off. People answer them, and the car crashes into a tree. You killed yourself by answering the phone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3a-hOwPLxQ
I must be going to the wrong(?) cinema chain, because I haven’t seen these. Then again I’m usually looking at my phone during previews, so maybe I’m missing more than I realise. (I put it away as soon as the film starts, of course.)
My baby (ok,high school aged) cousin has texted me during a movie more than once. I was not pleased with him when I found out.
When my older brother goes to the movies, he always texts me a running commentary on the trailers. He’ll shut down the phone and put it away during the movie proper, but he considers previews to be fair game.
I am the same as your brother. I’ll text my sister usually to tell her what I am seeing (b/c she likes movies A LOT so she usually knows things/has already seen it) but shut that down as soon as the movie starts.
My cousin and I see a lot of movies together and keep up a running commentary through the previews, which is much more annoying than texting imo. But we shut it for the movie itself.
We see a lot of action movies so our commentary is usually things like ‘this is the worst’ ‘ughhhh patriarchyyyyyy’ ‘no I don’t want this, make it stop’ and ‘just what exactly is this add trying to tell me??’
My mom and I had the same routine as Natalie and her mom, only from my perspective here’s how it went down:
I *wanted* to do my own laundry as a teenager; I worked part time and bought my own clothes and was VERY PARTICULAR about their care.
My mom wanted me to bring the laundry downstairs so she could do it along with everyone else’s. She would bug me to bring my stuff downstairs because it was “more efficient” for her to do it all together and have us help out. It probably was more efficient (also my mom is super controlling about household tasks) – but we fundamentally disagreed on how things should be sorted, water heat levels, hang drying vs. dryer etc. In the end, my mom mostly would just grab all of my dirty clothes out of my room while I was at school or work, so it wasn’t a winnable battle by any means.
It was a very successful way to raise a daughter who is super independent though, in that I moved out at age 18 and whenever times have gotten tough and the idea of having to move back in with my parents comes up I’m like “NOPE can’t handle the battle over how to properly manage domestic tasks that would ensue”. It is, quite seriously, the main deterrent for me in living with my parents who I otherwise love.
(Disclaimer: my 25-year-old professionally employed younger sister still lives at home and my mom does all her laundry still so YMMV. My mom constantly complains to me about how she’s still doing my sister’s laundry though, and I’m just like “…stop doing it then?”)
LAUNDRY is a heated topic in my world, apparently.
Well, drying certainly is.
The dog! This weekend I was having an interesting conversation with a six-year-old, and she was playing a game on her mom’s phone at the same time because kids these days, right?, and in the middle of telling me about her cousin’s puppets she yelled “Squirrel! I have to catch the squirrel!” I love it when art imitates life.
The only anti-texting commercial I like is this M&Ms one. For some reason it always makes me laugh. They only play that one at the Regal near me, thought. The AMC and Cinemark theaters nearby have much more obnoxious PSAs, and the independent theater with the cat doesn’t have anything, they just assume you’re not a nincompoop. I can’t remember if they have anything at the other two independent theaters I sometimes go to.
Okay but I fucking LOVE the Cinemark texting ad, as it was clearly written by somebody’s agitated grandpa who doesn’t even understand what a cell phone is. “LOL and BFF on a BRIGHT LITTLE SCREEN?????”
IDK, MY BFF JILL??
I love yelling along with it. YOU WILL BE ASKED TO LEAVE. PERIOD!!!
The earlier version doubled up on the “agitated grandpa who doesn’t even understand what a cell phone is.” “LOL and BFF” replaced “[something, maybe OMG] and LMAO, as if they had no idea they were casually sneaking One of the Words You Can’t Say on Television into a preview.
IN PRINCIPLE I am 100% behind this, but in practice it is kind of an equal ratio of middle aged people to millennials being jackasses about using their phones during movies. The thing is that grown-up people who should know better will use the excuse of Important Business, which, no, if it was so important, why aren’t you staying home instead of going to a Sunday matinee.
Oh, TO CLARIFY, I do not believe texting during movies is a uniquely millennial act, but I DO believe the people making these ads BELIEVE they need to alternately wheedle, praise, flatter, coerce, beg, and bribe us in order to get us to stop, rather than just YELLING ONCE and leaving it at that.
man, i am going to get slammed hard for this, but…i mean, my partner has a job where he will have long stretches of time when he isn’t/doesn’t need to be working, but he’s always on call. so if he gets an urgent email during a movie he does need to deal with it (though he would probably get up and step out if he had to send a text/email or make a call). i don’t think it’s fair to say he shouldn’t be allowed to go to movies for this reason?
as a disclaimer, though, i will note that people’s phone screens don’t bother me during movies. you already have the emergency exit lights as distracting spots of brightness, phones aren’t that much worse. what DOES bother me in EVERY PUBLIC SITUATION is when people have the key click sound turned on on their iphones and they text during the movie. how can ANYONE not turn that off as the absolute first thing they do when they unwrap their phone!?!?
I don’t think anyone’s complaining about a quick glance at a phone before someone leaves the theater to actually have their conversation. It’s just rare that anyone does leave when they answer their phone. The rules are different for live performances.
Nah, I would never go that far. My brother’s been in that situation too, but it’s why at movies he always sits on the aisle and steps out to take the call. People who are legitimately obliged to respond usually have figured out how to handle things. But there are people who just sit there and tap away.
Also, 100% yes, the key click sound is maddening.
I am light sensitive, and I wear my dark glasses to the theatre, and I have to sit strategically otherwise the exit lights and stairwell lights will actually stop me from being able to pay attention to the movie.
Ofc I would never be mad at someone checking their phone quickly or checking it and then ducking out. I would assume that person was on call or had some other pressing reason. It’s the people who sit with it out, clearly not caring about those around them, that get me. I went to see Julia Gillard speak and they specifically said no photos, and the middle aged women sitting next to me spent the WHOLE TIME taking teeny, fuzzy, grainy photos on their phones. Which were set to max brightness, and also had the clicking noises on. I would like to say that I asked them to stop but instead I became paralysed by social anxiety and overstimulation, and just glared at them for an hour. I heard basically nothing that the speakers said the whole night. Thanks for nothing, those ladies.
I’ve never been to a theatre that showed a “Turn Off Your Phones” preview more than once?
Regardless, the single best phone warning I ever saw was at a small independent theatre at least 12 years ago. It featured a cheap cardboard mock-up of the cinema with Barbies as the audience. One of the Barbies whips out her ~cool pink plastic phone & starts being annoying, causing all the other audience Barbies to revolt and set her on fire. It was beautiful.
I would pay money just to watch that.
Like others on this thread I am tilting my head sideways and saying “Baroo?” over the idea that it’s Millennials texting during movies, when IME it is a phenomenon equally distributed over the age spectrum (but that the middle-aged jackasses are the least likely to respond to being shamed by actually stopping).
This threw me into a tiny internal rage thinking about a former friend who would routinely text through movies (and not just at the AMC where that sort of thing is unfortunately par for the course, but at like, special 35mm showings of PT Anderson films at fancy arthouse theaters) and then I thought, “oh, FORMER friend” and felt so much better that I have excised a garbage person from my life. In sum, those who text through movies are probably inconsiderate trash humans in other ways, too.
I think in Canada there’s only two.
But in any case, it’s not Millenials who made these.
Well, two regular warnings and three phone company ads with bonus warnings in them.
One day in high school our 10th grade global history class was replaced with a screening of Schindler’s List in the auditorium, and there was a kid a few rows in front of me playing with his cell phone (and this was 10-11 years ago, so there wasn’t that much to do on a phone) and I was horrified by it. I don’t know what bothered me more–the casual attitude towards the subject matter, or the fact that he was somehow bored by the movie.
That was one of my earlier “wow I do not relate to my generation” moments.
I’ll admit… if I were forced to stay and watch Schindler’s List TODAY in class, I’d do the same. I just.. it’s too intense, I can’t.
Why did AMC have to have a person doing the most stereotypical sassy black woman voice read their No Cell Phones/Texting Copy?
If you’ve been to an AMC showing within the last year or two you most likely know the one I mean. The two red circle creatures/AMC mascots (???) separated on different subway platforms. It goes on for so long and every time I see a movie I dread its approach.
All the AMC red dot commercials are terrible. Especially the one about phones getting eaten by a bears.
The greatest “no phones in the theatre” clip was definitely the old one for Marcus Theatres, a midwestern chain. It had AJ Hawk, a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, sit behind a chatty moviegoer, (this was when cell phones were more for talking than texting) remove his phone from his hand, chastise him in front of the other audience members, and then smack him upside the head.
What I’m saying is that threats work better than praise, here. I always entirely turn off my phone in theatres for fear that AJ Hawk will slap my head and the rest of the audience will applaud him for it.
Okay so tangentially related but on the same etiquette topic and me showing my millennial youth:
I’m going to the symphony in January and it’s the first time since I was a kid and we went on field trips or whathaveyou. I know the rules about putting phones on silent and putting them away and not to dress in noisy clothes, and so on.
BUT. I am fidgety. I accidentally bought a ticket right in the middle of the section, instead of on the aisles where maybe fidgeting would be less noticeable?
Generally I don’t go out to the movies or anything because my fidgetyness means I can’t really focus for an entire film. I like to watch at home where I can give myself a break from sitting still, or I can play games on my phone at the same time. When I do go to a movie, I sit in a back row and it’s often one that’s almost finished with its run, so the theatre is pretty empty anyway, and I knit swatches – because I don’t have to look at my hands and there’s little to no pattern to memorize. The last few times, only my movie companions knew what I was doing, because I warned them in advance that if they wanted me to sit still and quietly for an entire 210 minutes, I needed to keep my hands occupied. (a swatch is also small enough to hold entirely in my lap, and you can’t hear any needle clicks over the soundtrack – plus I try to minimize them as much as I can, and pause if there’s any time where I can hear them myself, until the soundtrack picks up again)
Is this completely appallingly gauche for the symphony? It’s Shostakovich’s No. 10, which I really want to hear live, but with my autistic qualities and also depression-caused-ADD-symptoms, I’m worried that I won’t be able to sit still long enough, and maybe I shouldn’t go at all??? (I’m awful at regular music concerts for similar reasons, but at least when I went to see Eric Clapton or Hugh Laurie, no one expected me to sit quietly the entire 2 hours!)
Also, the performance I’ll be attending is at 8pm on a Saturday – there’s a Friday matinee and Friday 8pm as well, but I can’t attend them because of work. I think the matinee would be a lot less formal, though, if I could?
You totally don’t need permission from me, an internet stranger, but I think knitting in those circumstances would be totally fine, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen people doing that before at other concerts I’ve been to. (Also at the opera? I feel like I’ve seen a lot of knitting during opera.) Plus, once the lights go down and the orchestra starts up, no one is going to notice, one because darkness and two because Shostakovich. (That concert sounds wonderful, by the way. I hope you have a great time!)
people are like “Shostakovich for your first symphony outing???” and i’m like “wanna fight me on it” because maybe i’m not super musically literate, but what i’ve heard of his work is so interesting! and I have the Leningrad movement from his 8th symphony by the Tokyo Philharmonic on my MP3 player, and it’s so good, the way it repeats and is a constant crescendo from beginning to end, and I thought i hated that kind of thing because I hated Ravel in high school when we had to do a music appreciation course. (I really like some of the more modern stuff on PRI’s Performance Today and when the local public radio station plays recordings of our symphony orchestra, so I expect I will love the concert! if I can just sit still long enough to be comfortable, anyway)
I think maybe I’ll put together a fancy handbag to stuff my yarn and needles inside, and also take along some of my other fidget tools, just in case!
Doesn’t knitting make noise? As a musician, I would be terribly irked by even the slightest rhythmic noise, or even by a silent rhythmic motion (knitting) that wasn’t in sync with the music. Can you perhaps change your seats? At least one of the people close to your seat is going to be driven out of his/her tree by this.
You don’t have to sit in total stillness, though. Some kinds of music. Some kinds of music, if you’re totally still, you’re not really listening. It’s the competing rhythm that’s the problem. And trying to knit IN RHYTHM to Shostakovich could end in bloodshed.
Knitting doesn’t have to make a lot of noise. I think plastic and bamboo needles should be relatively soundless? (I’ll have to pay attention next time I’m knitting.)
Nope! Knitting can make little clicks as the needles pass each other, but if you are careful, you can do it almost soundlessly, and if there’s ambient noise, you don’t hear it at all. With loud sounds like at a movie, the quiet clicks are entirely hidden. You couldn’t hear it at all in a tiny 125 lecture hall-turned-movie screening last month, where I was especially concerned about disturbing my neighbors because of it being such a small space and not normally outfitted for movies.
But my hands do move, and even if I can keep my arms still, they might see it? and is that worse than me fidgeting otherwise and compulsively braiding my hair or playing with a rubber band?
I don’t even know if the lights are dimmed for the symphony, or if they’re kept up so you can see the orchestra. They’re up at the front of the hall on a platform and my seat is in the cheap section midway back on the orchestra level (I couldn’t afford the seats at the very back or on the upper level – I guess the acoustics are best back there?)
As a symphony goer, I wouldn’t find the knitting gauche or annoying, and certainly less distracting than more full-body fidgeting. And as a fledgling knitter, I would be envious of your ability to knit without looking at your hands!
I’m fairly new to knitting, honestly – I’ve been doing it several years, but don’t think of myself as very highly skilled. I just really enjoy running off a length of stockinette or garter when I want to relax on a beach or at the movies or something, because it gives my brain just enough to focus on that my anxiety and depression thoughts are kept at bay, and also it soothes my need to fidget, of course. I’ve tried a few complicated things, but rarely finish them!
Anyway, knitting without looking is pretty easy if you’re just doing straight stockinette or garter. It’s harder if you need to count stitches for anything (though stitch markers help with it!). Just get used to feeling for the next loop with the tip of your needle and not letting the tips separate too much between stitches. You’ll be able to tell by feel if you’ve got the needle into the loop and if the yarn has wrapped properly or not. I tend to have remarkably even/regular stitches when I’m knitting by feel alone, which is nice.
Also fidgety, also ADD: do you have any fidget toys? I used to carry Silly Putty and it’s tremendously helpful and as long as you’re not snapping it it’s silent. You are probably already aware of them, but for anyone else finding it relevant to their lives, if you google “fidget toys” there are a wealth of options out there. I don’t think any of your other coping stuff sounds disruptive at all; just wanted to expand on them. *awkward fist bump*
Yup, I do have a couple fidget toys! They’re not nearly as satisfying for my brain as knitting, though. It’s not even “true” ADD – just my depression!brain craving more active involvement/stimulation than listening to music or watching a movie can provide. (I’m not sure why reading solves the issue, but I do have a lot of stims when I read, like pulling out my eyebrows or rubbing my feet together.)
As a classical musician, I’m stoked you’re going to the symphony! And seeing Shosty, too! I’m generally more on stage than in the audience, so I can tell you from that perspective, knitting won’t bother the musicians (unless your needles glow in the dark or something).
Anything with light will bother the performers. My nieces came to see me at the symphony and had their phones out there entire time. It was appalling and totally distracting.
When I’ve been in the audience, the only thing that ever really bugs me is people conducting along or tapping their feet or unwrapping loud candy (old people do this a lot.)
Long story short, bring your knitting and have a blast!
Thank you for the reassurance! I’ll carry along a few other things just in case my neighbors want to kill me, but it’s good to know that it shouldn’t be too bothersome.
I really doubt that your neighbors will say anything about it, anyway, but in case they do, maybe be prepared to let the ushers know about your circumstances. Also, you may want to check and see if any of your local symphonies, ballets, or operas do sensory-free performances for people on the autism spectrum.
The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has been doing them for about two years now, and they’ve been really successful! They’re shorter performances with the lights only lowered halfway, the music played quieter, and the audience is able to make noise or walk around as they choose. I know they also do some performances for the seeing-impaired, where they let them feel the costumes and put their hands on the stage to feel the rhythm of the dancers feet while the movements and story are described to them. There’s a lot of cool things around, if you’re looking for it. Good luck!
That Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre program sounds awesome. I’m so glad to know it exists!
(The sensory-friendly programs around here are generally when I’m at work, or they’re aimed so squarely at young children that the topics don’t interest me at all, alas. At least I’m lucky enough to be able to cope most of the time. I just have to know what to expect and have plenty of decompression time after.)
As a Fidgeter and Knitter of Note:
Call and find out what the lighting situation is ahead of time, which will help make further decisions.
Go. You’ve bought the ticket. If you get there and are miserable, you get to leave. If you can time it to an intermission, that’s great, but if you can’t, whatever. You then at least get to enjoy the bit you can, and you learn more about what you are and are not able to do comfortably.
If you’re a quiet knitter knitting on quiet needles, it should be fine, but I’ve known people to crochet in situations where sound was a consideration (even if you’re a quiet knitter, not everyone is, and so some people might get anxious about you knitting even if it’s unfounded). You’ll want to be careful to stop during the REALLY quiet bits— part of the fun of orchestral music in person is how much control they can have in making the loud really loud and the quiet really quiet, and during any quiet bits, the SMALLEST sounds get way bigger. And orchestral music is much more likely to have very noticeable very quiet bits than most movies.
I’ve only been asked to stop knitting twice- once politely by a prof who was largely apologetic about it (a different student had asked him to ask me to stop, he thought it was bullshitty of them). The other time was 100% rude inappropriate incorrect total bullshit, and 9 years later will still get a 10 minute long rant from me about how THEY were courting ME and MATHEMATICIANS ARE WEIRD, DEAL WITH IT.
Oh! Also, if you know all the pieces they’ll be playing, you could do a sort of dry run. Obviously in-person is more likely to keep your attention than at home, but maybe put the pieces on your phone, go sit in the car, and see how long it takes before you start to get super fidgety! Since you don’t have anything to LOOK at, and the acoustics will be worse, the actual concert should be easier to stay immersed in, but you may create different plans if you find yourself super frustrated after 5 minutes versus 35 minutes!
And take good care of yourself the day-of. Whatever you do to get your fidgets out, try to do that, whether it’s a long bath or a long run or baking a cake or messing around on tumblr for 3 hours. Fill up your tank as thoroughly ahead of time as possible!!
Thank you so much for the advice!
I literally just got surprised with a ticket to a performance of Rachmaninoff in 2 weeks (the person giving it to me knows how excited I am about the Shostakovich concert, and about not having been to an orchestral concert since I was tiny, and she suddenly can’t go), so I might use it as a test-run, too. The program is only an hour long, which is also great, since that’s about my limit for sitting quietly. Plus, I’m not as into Rachmaninoff, so I won’t be so keyed up!
But when I say literally, I mean that I saw your reply come through my email, but wasn’t able to open it, and then half an hour later we were talking and she said “by the way, I may have good news for you”. What luck! 😀
Last Sunday I went to see Crimson Peak at Harkins (local chain) and they only had one. But the couple sitting at the other end of the row apparently took it as a signal to stop their conversation and pull out their phones. They put them away by the end of the previews but I kept glancing down there, expecting them to pull them back out. I probably wouldn’t have been so bothered if there had been more people in the theater but there were maybe ten total.
What bugs me is when people film the movie. Especially opening weekend of big releases. I know that’s how all the clips get on the internet so quickly and I love looking at the clips but I spent money and waited in line for a decent seat so put your damn phone away and watch the movie!
The “No Texting” warning for AMC is OUT. OF. CONTROL. Like, it’s sooooo long and involved and involves a weird metaphor about your phone being a like a dog that needs to be leashed and then a bear eats the phone dog? It’s BIZARRE.
The text messages/text speak is all dog poop and it pisses off an old guy reading on a porch!
It is so damn weird.
whaaaaaat this sounds kind of amazing
All the AMC ads weird me out.
THIS.
I’m much less sanguine about the “watch out for bad guys” warnings that are basically about theater shooters, but with enough euphemisms that they think some people might heed the warning but not get freaked out about theater shooters.
Whaaaat is this a thing???
I don’t remember the precise wording and they definitely don’t say “shooters”, but that’s the takeaway I get from them and it’s really not a great way to start a movie. Luckily for me I have next to no recall for stuff like this so it gets pushed out of my conscious mind pretty quickly.
Yeah, “look around to see where the exits are,” and “move far away from the building in an emergency” kind of stuff. Maybe a line about staying calm, too? That are distressing.
Oh god, I was at a live comedy act recently (Henning Wehn, he’s in a lot of stuff in the UK) and his joke about coming out late started out as “I knew all you UK people would be late so I was too” which, okay, was funny, and then he said while he was waiting he started thinking “what if someone comes in and shoots everyone like in America?! I’d better stay back stage!”
I was shocked at how upset that made me, but I suppose it was good preparation for a show with a lot of racist and classist jokes in it. At least it was cheap.
I think it’s more of an “everyone does it, but middle-aged people are the ones who are horrid when you politely ask them to stop” thing. Like so many things.
Oh man, yes. Middle aged people also tend to rant about how stupid millennials are…in FRONT of millennials.
I mean, I’ve been working in some kind of “serving other people” capacity for ten years, and, yes, bad manners can pop up across the board, but both the people who need coddling and the people who turn vindictive against people who are serving them and can’t really fight back…well, generally they aren’t the under-thirty-fives. I wouldn’t be surprised if the pleading ads were aimed at an older demographic.
(Honestly, how much would I need to pay to commission “The Sequel to ‘Five Easy Pieces’ That Waitress Deserves”? The 60’s generation’s all, “He’s flouting authority!” and the rest of us are all, “He’s taking out his frustrations on a waitress making below minimum wage at a greasy spoon in the middle of nowhere!”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38maVb_30ng
I am from the 60s generation, and I would contribute to the GoFundMe campaign to film that sequel in a hot second.
I’m 59 and think millennials are by far the best generation we’ve ever produced.
So much for the stereo-types about middle-aged this and that…..
I only have one criticism of people under 35;
PLEASE VOTE!
In one election cycle, the younger folks could change the country forever and end
the racist, homophobe on-slaught from the Right….
VOTE!
The only hope I have for this country is that I personally know many people under 35
and recognize how bright, talented and open-minded they are.
Salut….
The quicker the younger generation takes over the better we will all be.
😀
I live near an arty theater that seems to be patronized solely by people over 70. A friend and I went there to see “Bernie.” There weren’t any phone issues, but there was an epic “shhhhing” battle throughout the movie. Like, if someone coughed, they were shushed. If someone was moving around too much, they were shushed. At one point, a man laughed in appropriately. He was shushed, and replied, ” oh, go jump in the lake.” Whereupon he was shushed, and the shusher was shushed, and shushes were vehemently exchanged for several minutes. My friend and I were having fits of silent giggles and hoping we weren’t next to be shushed. She went back another time alone and said it was exactly the same. Maybe they have got something in their non-verbal noise shaming.
I went to see an arty movie in a regular commercial theater in NYC a few years ago. Honestly can’t remember the movie, but I’m thinking it was a Woody Allen film. Anyway, two 60-ish women passed a phone between the themselves in a 5 minute conversation with some third person, neither bothering to leave the theater. And an octogenarian woman kept yelling ‘it’s too loud’ because she did not like the volume of the film. I imagine in her head there was a projectionist in the back, presumably with newsboy cap and suspenders, who would adjust it for her. She yelled it like 6 times throughout the movie. My millennial friends and I were by far the best behaved. Then again, when I’m old, I’ll probably be a lot less polite too.
Does anyone remember one featuring the Muppets? I don’t remember the theater, but we had one in Chicago that showed this clip about what not to do with Muppets doing ridiculous things, like Grover riding a surf board over the seats and a voice over saying things like “no surfing” as well as the more conventional “no talking on your phone.” This was probably before texting was such a big deal.
Even if I accept the premise that those commercials are AIMED at millenials (which they may or may not be), why would we assume that that’s actually what millenials want or need? That seems more like the idea of the 50-year-old who probably greenlit it than the 16 year old that they want to kick out of the theater.
I remember years ago (before smart phones!) hearing about a cell signal blocker used in concert halls in Japan and I was immediately like, “We need that in theaters.” Still hasn’t happened but should. And don’t give me that shit about a surgeon needing her phone on in case she’s called in for an emergency. If that were really the case that person should *skip the fucking movie*. Everyone who has a phone out during a film is a thoroughly useless human, not a surgeon, or you know, the president.
THIS.
I will tell you, when I was young I had no idea that you could keep whites bright and not eventually just become a dingy grey over time. Just a little bit of bleach made all the difference.
Perhaps we should call them mallories.