From: spencer@der.Princeton.EDU (S. Spencer Sun)
Subject: reasonable complaints at theaters
Originator: news@nimaster
Reply-To: spencer@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (S. Spencer Sun)
Organization: Society for Promotion of Entropy in the Universe (SPEU)
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 07:00:43 GMT

The other thread is getting a bit too large and covering wide varieties
of subjects.

I just wanted to provide one example of a real situation which came up
recently.  Please understand that I am not saying all complaints are
invalid.  But this is to demonstrate that there ARE unreasonable
complaints and those are the ones I am griping about in the other
thread.

A gentleman in a wheelchair came to see A Few Good Men, which is
playing in our 640-seat house.  That auditorium has two aisles.  He
politely declined offers from both the doorman and the usher to be
shown to one of the places where seats have been removed to make room
for patrons in wheelchairs or similar mobility aids.  Later it was
discovered by an usher that the patron had placed himself at the back
of an aisle.

-------------------------------
auditorium            exit-only
doors                     doors
-----|   |--------------|     |
xxxxx|   |xxxxxxxxxxxxxx| *** |
xxxxx|   |xxxxxxxxxxxxxx|     |
xxxxx|   |xxxxxxxxxxxxxx|     |
...
   [    the screen         ]

i.e. he had put himself where the asterisks are (the x's are the seats
and there are two aisles).

Now, Maryland fire code specifically prohibits wheelchairs, etc.
obstructing the aisles, nor may able-bodied people sit in the aisles as
it presents a similar impediment to evacuating the theater int he event
of a fire.

Prior to the start of the movie an usher asked the patron to move to
one of the wheelchair cutouts and he refused (I'll point out in passing
that there are two wheelchair spots in our 640-seat house and they're
both in very good viewing locations).  The assistant manager (who is
kinda wimpy) also asked and the patron again refused.  The manager (who
is much more assertive) asked the patron when the movie had just
started (still in policy trailer) and he refused a third time.  At this
point the fire code was explained to the patron and he still refused to
move.  The manager said "Well, I really don't want to do it this way,
but at this point, you have two options.  We would like you to get
yourself situated in one of the locations for disabled patrons, since
the movie is now starting.  Otherwise, I will have to ask you to
leave."  (He left off the third option, which is to call the police,
but we don't like to do that unless we really positively absolutely
have to do so, and to my recollection we never have).  At this point,
the patron elected to leave the theater and receive a refund (which he
was given promptly) and also gave the manager the what-for, saying that
he was discriminating, that he of all people should be sensitive to
that (the manager is a black person), that the manager was just a
puppet, did not care about him, the patron, etc. etc.  etc. and said
all sorts of condescending, insulting, bordering on racist stuff.

Had I been handling the situation, I would have pointed out that we did
in fact care for him, the patron, but we also cared for the 300 other
patrons in the theater, and we cared about what would happen to them if
their exit from the theater in the event of an emergency were to be
delayed.

-----
sss / Princeton University Class of 1994 / Department of Computer Science
Ninety per cent of true love is acute, ear-burning embarrassment.
[Terry Pratchett, _Wyrd Sisters_]