Susan Takes on the Movie Theater Industry

My husband is blogging for me today:

Going to the movies with Susan is an “interesting” experience -- and yes, for you intellectuals out there, I use quotes to signify something other than merely interesting. In New York City, movies cost over $10, so we always choose carefully. We sneak in our own snacks, and Susan usually gets stuck behind some tall guy with huge hair and a top hat.

So one time we settled on a French film, “Va Savoir," which means “you won’t understand this film.” Susan and I have enjoyed our share of French films, but something went wrong with this one. About 20 minutes in, I started to realize that I didn’t know what was going on, and, worse, I didn’t care. That’s a bad place to be at the start of a film. Then I realized that, if I felt that way at 20 minutes, Susan felt that way at 10. Soon enough, I got a nudge in my side and a loud whisper: “Let’s go.”

Let’s go? What does that mean? The movie was far from over, and I’m the kind of guy that tends to see unpleasant things through to the end. Whether it’s bad dates, long meetings, lame parties, or dull films, I've always felt the need to stick it out. I like to think it’s because I have the cautious optimism that it might get better, and maybe I can find something of value in it.

But when Susan is determined to leave, she can’t be stopped. We left the theater and entered the lobby. As I naively headed for the door, Susan asked an employee to summon the theater's manager. "Why would she do that?" I wondered. The manager appeared, poor guy. What follows is the actual conversation:

Susan:      This movie was terrible, we’d like our money back.

Manager:      I can’t do that.

Susan:      You are showing a bad movie and should take responsibility for it.

Manager:      It’s not my fault you didn’t like it. Who told you to go see it?

Susan:      You did!  You have a rave review posted outside.

And with that, the manager was defeated. He gave us two vouchers for any movie of our choosing in the future. I didn’t know such a thing was possible, but with Susan, most things are.