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Topic: Get Your Ass Out Of The Picture

Dick Vaughan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1032
From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 02-27-2001 03:17 AM

Seen in a local paper in the UK!!

A Farmer has been banned from a drive -in cinema for watching films from the back of his donkey.

Managers said Geoff Roder blocked the view for other patrons.

The 35 year old bachelor said he took the animal to the drive-in as it was his only companion.

He claimed he could not get to the drive-in without his donkey as he was unable to drive.

In a move which may lead to a bizarre legal test case in New Zealand ,he is now threatening to sue the cinema chain.

God I knew you antipodeans were strange!

I suppose we should be grateful that he was watching from the back of and not behind the donkey

Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 02-27-2001 11:49 AM

That sounds like a similar case years back of the woman who was too large to fit into the theater's chairs. Supposedly she brought in her own folding chair (without armrests) and was going to sit in a wheelchair seat, but the manager insisted that she must be in a "theater chair" for whatever reason. If I am remembering it right (and the gossip trail didn't alter the ending here), she won the case.

Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-27-2001 04:00 PM

The fat woman story actually happened to an exhibitor that I worked for. It occured at a theater in Oak Park, IL. She sat in the chair and could'nt get back out, inspite of help from the management. The chair eventually collapsed with her in the seat. I think other patrons in the theater had fun watching the goings on. I don't remember what she sued for but I seem to remember that she won.
Mark @ GTS

Jonathan M. Crist
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 531
From: Hershey, PA, USA
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 02-27-2001 08:44 PM

At the Gratz Drive In in Central Pennsylvania, the Amish (Yes ...I'm not kidding ...the Amish) come in their horse and buggies. There is a special area in the rear for their parking. They of course do not have radio sound

Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-27-2001 09:01 PM

It's funny how many people think that the Amish just sit around on hay bails all of the time isn't it? Being from Pennsylvania, I have met a few. It takes a bit of getting used to seeing them eating at places like Mickey D's. If you think about it for a second you might realize that they can't eat Sheppard's pie and corn on the cob EVERY day!

Most Amish people that I've had the pleasure of dealing with have always been "good people".

Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-28-2001 02:17 PM

We have a fat lady who brings her own chair each week. She always asks us when we are getting new seats? We always tell her that we will after our first million customers. Even though I am "Largeian" I still fit in the theatre seats and coach in the airplane.

As to the fellow who takes the donkey to the movies, I say no publicity is bad publicity and they should give this guy a season pass to the place.

Jason Black
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1723
From: Myrtle Beach, SC, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 03-04-2001 11:42 PM

I must digress with the rumors about 'the fat lady' who sued the company.. It happened not in Il, but actually happened in Tn (can't bet the bank on it, but I know it was close to me) to the company that I work(ed) for. I wasn't the mgr on duty so I can't say *exactly* what happened, but I do recall that it was WAY overblown by the media.

Result? Made several bleeding heart liberals much happier. Oh, and one big woman's lawyer a very happy person. This bunch of BS is almost as bad as the whole spilled coffee at McDonalds years ago. The biggest diffence between the two *I* see is that at least the theatre tried to reasonably accomodate the "fat lady" to begin with. Too bad it isn't *exactly* what she thought she should have gotten. I'll stop now before I piss someone off inadvertenly.

------------------
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese!

Charles Everett
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1470
From: New Jersey
Registered: May 2001

posted 06-06-2001 02:58 PM

Came upon that in the most unusual way at the AMC Empire in New York.

I'm seeing The Luzhin Defence on the Top of the Empire (arthouse) floor. End credits start, lights go up, people begin to leave. Most of the audience stays seated throughout. A few in the non-stadium rows get up about halfway through the end. Somebody in my row yells, "Sit down, we want to read the credits!" And this was a Saturday night show that nearly sold out.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-06-2001 04:34 PM

We had a group of really grungy-looking patrons come in a few summers ago, real hippies. One of them asked if her friend could bring in a guide dog, because he (the friend) was hearing impaired. I had never heard of a "hearing" guide dog before, but she had a card certifying this dog as a real guide, etc. and the dog seemed nice enough, so I let them in. No problems at all, they sat thru the movie, the dog slept on the floor, everything was fine.

Then about a month later I read in the paper about a theatre in western Montana getting sued because the manager wouldn't let a "guide dog" into his building. I always wondered if it was these same people. The suit was successful, so I guess the moral is, if people want to bring a guide dog in, better let'em unless the dog causes a disturbance.

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Randy Stankey
Film God

Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-06-2001 04:56 PM

Mike;

That part about getting ID on the dog was a good idea. So, OK, if the person is blind and it's obvious that this is a guide dog I suppose you can forgo that step. (But then, again, what the heck is a blind person doing in a movie? )

I could imagine that somebody who is NOT blind would want to take a guide dog into the movies if it's a "Dog in Training". I've seen that before... where a sighted person keeps a dog to make sure it's "ready" before it's released for duty. It'd be sad to hear that a "green" dog had bloted across a busy street to chase a squirrel or something like that. (Something right out of a Farrelley Brothers movie! )

I don't see any problem letting a dog into the movie like this BUT if the dog starts misbehaving.... OUT IT GOES!!!
The truth is, that people who really need a dog are the ones who make the least "stink" about these issues. Other people see that the person is handicapped and never think twice about it. It's those people who act like "victims" who should get special treatment that cause all the trouble. THOSE are the people who really burn my ass!

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 06-06-2001 05:02 PM

I've had several blind people attend movies at a theater I was working at over the years. It started with Jurassic Park. I would've never asked, but the friend of the blind person volunteered the explanation "he wanted to hear the 6 channel digital sound".

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Jerry Chase
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1068
From: Margate, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 06-06-2001 06:09 PM

The theatre of the mind can be far bettter than the special effects of CGI.

I've had many blind people come to listen to films. It was policy at one circuit to let them in on passes. Only rarely was there a problem with the companion constantly whispering what was going on.

Deaf people sometimes "talk" a mile a minute in the movies.

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Joe Schmidt
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 172
From: Billings, Montana, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 06-07-2001 01:50 AM

Well, as to fat ladies, one of my doctor friends said yesterday in connection with the economy going to go down big time "The Fat Lady hasn't begun to Sing yet, in fact she's barely warming up."

If a Fat Lady is Stuck in a Theatre Seat, next time try to get her to beller a little before everybody pulls "One Two Three, HEAVE!!" If she can hit a sustained high C, air will be exhausted and she will get slightly smaller just for an instant. The risk with this is the vibration may cause several of the surround speakers to fall down from the walls.

Another way is to unbolt the seat from the floor, roll it and the Fat Lady over sideways, get several people to sit on the Fat Lady and then pull vigorously on the chair with a wriggling motion. This is much easier than trying to lift the Fat Lady out of the chair.

As to those Dawgs, well, none of them better tangle with my Cat. I came home from errands one afternoon last fall and found half of a german shepherd in the back yard which she had killed and Eaten for Lunch. And she's just a little cat too, only weighs 7-1/2 pounds.

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Mike Judge
Film Handler

Posts: 50
From: Seattle, WA
Registered: Aug 2000

posted 06-07-2001 05:25 AM

Jason,
A couple years back I had to study the McDonalds case for one of my law classes, what most people jump to conclusions about is that the lady was minorly injured, wrong. The coffee was extrememly hot, I forget the exact temp but it was wayyyy over what it should've been, and the lid was improperly placed on. She ended up with 3rd degree burns on her legs, and had to spend 10 days in the hospital. I believe that's serious enough to warrant a law suit.

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Mike Bianchi
Film Handler

Posts: 40
From: Independence, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 06-07-2001 05:47 AM

Brad Miller Wrote
<<<I've had several blind people attend movies at a theater I was working at over the years. It started with Jurassic Park. I would've never asked, but the friend of the blind person volunteered the explanation "he wanted to hear the 6 channel digital sound".>>>

In Cincinnati we have a radio station that had a regular feature on Monday mornings: the "Blind Film Critic". The insinuation was that critics are blind and dumb (not so inaccurate) but the female reviewer was blind and had interesting commentary about the sound in the films she watched.

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