It’s been well established that working in the industry has an eye-opening effect. Things like grabbing dinner with friends, happy hours, hunkering down at a bar for an excessive amount of time—they all feel completely different once you’ve been in the shoes of the person that’s serving you. And we’re not here to debate which jobs have it worse than others, because every industry gig has to take it’s lumps at some point. We’re here to acknowledge and appreciate a specific role that jumps through a very, very bizarre set of hoops on a daily basis—this is a thank you to dine-in movie theater servers.
Let’s Start with the Crouching
We’ve all kicked our leather chairs back for an indulgent night at the dine-in theater (shout out to Alamo Drafthouse). And while it feels damn good to put our feet up in a public place, it creates some tragic obstacles for a server to work around. The crouching, contorting, and general acrobatics that go into the lightest of communication is bonkers. If a patron has any sort of follow-up question on the menu, the server has to practically slither into earshot like Gollum from Lord of the Rings just to clarify that the buffalo chicken sandwich does, in fact, come with fries. What about their knees!? These aren’t just regular servers, they’re full blown athletes. There are major league catchers that put less stress on their ACL’s at work.
The Art of the Whisper
There’s a reason these gymnasts have to find creative ways to communicate with their customers—it’s still a movie, after all. And while the initial touch by the server is before or during the previews, everything after that will be smack-dab in the middle of the story. This is where your professional whisper-voice comes into play. It’s hard enough trying to connect with a wide array of personalities in full-voice, add the challenge of “keeping it down” while trying to exchange crucial information, and you’re swimming upstream toward a lake full of wrong orders and unhappy guests.
Closing is Non-Existent
We’re talking about dropping the check off. In other words, the final opportunity to ask your customers if they need anything, flash a big fat smile and let them know it was a pleasure serving them. Nope, closing at a dine-in theater means (for the most part) dropping your checks off during the absolute climax of the movie. How can you remind your guests that you’ve been diligently taking care of them when Batman and Superman are having a supernatural fistfight right over your shoulder? You can’t. So drop the check and hope for the best.
Is That One Perk Really a Perk?
Okay, free movie tickets is definitely a perk. Free movies for you and your friends is a bigger perk. Free movies for your friends that don’t necessarily want to go with you them but expect you to hook them up with tickets is the opposite of a perk. We can all agree that going out to a movie is not the same universal joy that it used to be. With a bevy of streaming options drowning us in fresh content every single week, “must see” films are few and far between. And let us not forget, most people don’t like to hang out at work…when they’re not working. You’re less likely to change out of your uniform for the premiere of the 34th Fast & Furious movie when you could wait for it to drop on HBO in a couple months. Those movies that you actually want to see? Good luck avoiding spoilers during your shift.
In conclusion, thank you to all of you dine-in theater servers. You do the most, and ask for the least—and frankly, we don’t deserve you.