Probably the billionth post like this but I need to vent - before I start I work in the UK so some aspects of the theatre might be different.
So I rocked up for a open shift today. Before we open for the public we clean up from the night before. The closers are meant to do half and we do the other half.
Problem 1: The closers didn't touch the screens leaving me to clean them all. my knees became red raw because of all the kneeling I had to do to clean under the seats.
Problem 2: I was scheduled with 2 new starters. Now I try to be nice to new people because we were all new and learning once but these people have been here for 5 months now?? and yet still tell customers it's their first day and don't know how to do basic things.
Anyway so because these screens are so bad I don't finish them into 1pm (after we have opened - I clean them in showtime order so the first films are ready.) I come back to see the lines for concessions stretching far and manager tells me people have been waiting in this queue for 30 minutes.
I learn the new people have
left the freezer open so all the frozen food has to be thrown away
mixed the cheese sauce and butter so both have to be thrown out
Spilled popcorn and drinks everywhere
Didn't throw away any trash
Didn't put most of our equipment out
So I jump on to help them and we actually start moving things along smoothly.
Problem 3: 2 staff members call in sick.
And then the carnage starts:
Sold out Devil Wears Prada 2 and sold out Micheal screenings begin to enter alongside Drama and Hail Mary still ticking over. Oh and Mario is going in too. All within the same timeframe.
We had a queue of people that only Barbenhimer could rival. Genuinely the line never went down all day.
We ran out of stock, I am talking about different drinks, slushie flavours, sauces, hot food - alk gone
We had so many people get angry with us. Someone verbally abused my manager for being a woman, someone else shouted at me for not serving them (even though I was CLEARLY making someone elses order.) I had people complain about the mess around us even though we had NO TIME to clean. We gave up doing our customer service personas and just started telling people how it was (basically saying "look how busy it is what do you want us to do?)
Oh yeah you know that Billie Ellish movie that's coming out?? yeah we had a preview today that was also SOLD OUT.
I was supposed to finish at 4pm and ended up staying until 6pm - and I didn't have a break all day.
I know people have probably had worse but I have never seen my cinema that busy and I have worked there for 4 years now!! At least Barbenhimer we were prepared for - this blindsided us.