Stupid Guest Tricks

Thanks,all, for the welcome.

DisneyMom wrote:I want to hear some of the Stupid Drive-In Tricks :)
WELCOME!

I'm sure a lot would sound really familiar, but let me see if I can come up with some of the best, representative ones. Setting the Wayback machine to around 1980...

Tales from the Concession Stand -- I figured I'd start here since the thread is about dining. There were all the usual examples of people coming in for condiments to go with the food they brought. We also had a lot of run-ins with SGs who felt they were entitled to free cups and ice. (We matched sales to cup inventory so we were really selling cups that happened to have liquid in them.) Of course, people got real belligerent when you charged them for a drink when all the grabbed was a cup full of ice. The best tale, though, would have to be the family that brought their own bottled drinks, but neglected to bring an opener. The teenage kid came in demanding to know where the opener was. We didn’t sell bottled drinks, so we didn’t have one. A friend of mine was in the stand talking to me, and he had a pocket knife with an opener on it, so he opened 4 bottles for the kid. No thank you. My friend bought some snacks and was ready to leave when the kid came back with more bottles. The following conversation ensued:

Kid: I need these opened.
Friend: Sorry.
Kid: You have the opener in your pocket.
Friend: Yeah, and that’s where it’s staying.
Kid: (To me) He won’t open my bottles.
Me: Um, that’s his choice. He’s a customer.

The kid leaves, my friend and I exchange “the look” and he leaves. Shortly after, the kid comes back with his Mom. His Mom demanded that we open the bottles. She said she knew we had an opener because the other bottles got opened. I pointed out that another customer had done that. After a little more back and forth, she left grumbling about poor customer service.

Since this post is getting long, I’ll stop here, but if anyone is interested I have Tales from the Ticket Booth and Tales from the Ramp. I also have what I think is the best story to come out of my drive-in experience, but it isn’t about a SG, it’s about some really clever kids who got a pass because they were so ingenius.

WEDFan wrote:Since this post is getting long, I’ll stop here, but if anyone is interested I have Tales from the Ticket Booth and Tales from the Ramp. I also have what I think is the best story to come out of my drive-in experience, but it isn’t about a SG, it’s about some really clever kids who got a pass because they were so ingenius.

You know we won't let you stop there. Especially since you baited us with a tagline.

WEDFan, I am sorry that the Marsupial Welcoming Committee didn't get to you. And I am sorry you had the alcohol *before* the kindest flaming you will ever experience on a board. But hopefully you knew what to expect, since you've been here a month.

So without further ado, :sgthello:

No worries, Big Wallaby! The only problem would have been if the alcohol ignited!

Ok, so… Tales from the Ticket Booth. Admission for the drive-in was per person, not by the carload. As a result, we got a lot of people, particularly young people, trying to beat the system. Drive-ins were great for two types of groups: couples and carfulls. So what’s a person to think when a teenage guy drives up all by himself and buys one ticket? There was a path leading from a little shopping strip through a field into the back of our property. For some reason, these kids thought we didn’t know about it. Single kid comes through the front, ticket both calls ramp man (ramp is the area you park to watch, and the ramp man was our enforcer), he watches the car and waits for the other kid(s) to appear. Then the fun begins when they try to explain that they lost their ticket stub… in the car. These future leaders of the free world couldn’t even figure out to wait until it got dark. They’d just come strolling in from the back field. The best had to be the couple that decided it would be smart for the girlfriend to hide in the trunk. I kid you not – this actually happened from time-to-time. In this case, though, it turned out that she was claustrophobic. Barely got through the gate when she started banging on the inside of the trunk and screaming. Usually we just made them buy tickets for everyone and let them stay, but this time I guess she was no longer in the mood, and they left. :p:

WEDFan wrote:No worries, Big Wallaby! The only problem would have been if the alcohol ignited!

That is what I worry about every time. But alas, it must be the cheap stuff that Darph is giving away, so I really should learn not to panic.

Big Wallaby wrote:But alas, it must be the cheap stuff that Darph is giving away, so I really should learn not to panic.

I'm not sure Darph would ever part with real alcohol.

WEDFan wrote:No worries, Big Wallaby! The only problem would have been if the alcohol ignited!

Ok, so… Tales from the Ticket Booth. Admission for the drive-in was per person, not by the carload. As a result, we got a lot of people, particularly young people, trying to beat the system. Drive-ins were great for two types of groups: couples and carfulls. So what’s a person to think when a teenage guy drives up all by himself and buys one ticket? There was a path leading from a little shopping strip through a field into the back of our property. For some reason, these kids thought we didn’t know about it. Single kid comes through the front, ticket both calls ramp man (ramp is the area you park to watch, and the ramp man was our enforcer), he watches the car and waits for the other kid(s) to appear. Then the fun begins when they try to explain that they lost their ticket stub… in the car. These future leaders of the free world couldn’t even figure out to wait until it got dark. They’d just come strolling in from the back field. The best had to be the couple that decided it would be smart for the girlfriend to hide in the trunk. I kid you not – this actually happened from time-to-time. In this case, though, it turned out that she was claustrophobic. Barely got through the gate when she started banging on the inside of the trunk and screaming. Usually we just made them buy tickets for everyone and let them stay, but this time I guess she was no longer in the mood, and they left. :p:

Great Drive-in Stories! Hopefully that gal got a guy who at least had a bigger trunk :twisted:

DisneyMom wrote:Hopefully that gal got a guy who at least had a bigger trunk :twisted:

:dropmouth :dropmouth :dropmouth :dropmouth DisneyMom!!! :dropmouth :dropmouth :dropmouth :dropmouth

WEDFan wrote:No worries, Big Wallaby! The only problem would have been if the alcohol ignited!

Ok, so… Tales from the Ticket Booth. Admission for the drive-in was per person, not by the carload. As a result, we got a lot of people, particularly young people, trying to beat the system. Drive-ins were great for two types of groups: couples and carfulls. So what’s a person to think when a teenage guy drives up all by himself and buys one ticket? There was a path leading from a little shopping strip through a field into the back of our property. For some reason, these kids thought we didn’t know about it. Single kid comes through the front, ticket both calls ramp man (ramp is the area you park to watch, and the ramp man was our enforcer), he watches the car and waits for the other kid(s) to appear. Then the fun begins when they try to explain that they lost their ticket stub… in the car. These future leaders of the free world couldn’t even figure out to wait until it got dark. They’d just come strolling in from the back field. The best had to be the couple that decided it would be smart for the girlfriend to hide in the trunk. I kid you not – this actually happened from time-to-time. In this case, though, it turned out that she was claustrophobic. Barely got through the gate when she started banging on the inside of the trunk and screaming. Usually we just made them buy tickets for everyone and let them stay, but this time I guess she was no longer in the mood, and they left. :p:

OH WOW!

you are bringing back memories.

you see, when I was in high school in the midwest I worked as a projectionest for the local movie theatre (and during summer months) the drive in theatre! ;)

I remember having to go check the speakers and replacing them every once in a while. people would try and drive off with them still in the window, not realizing that the cord had some serious strength to it, and would often break the window! :D:

and of course the old "trunk" discount!

When I was a kid our house was over the fence from a large field. At the other end of the field was a drive-in theater. Early in the summer every year the grass was cut and bailed. The bails were stacked about fifty feet from the drive-in fence and left for months.

All the neighborhood kids would get food and drinks and sit on the hay bail stack and watch the movies. We got sound as most of the unused speakers all had their volume turned up. Good times.