I applaud United Artists Theaters - their no pager policy. (1 Viewer)

[John Stone]

For those who are on call 24/7 every day of the year, who cares if they can’t go out to the movies or theater?

Nice attitude. :rolleyes
We're the people that keep your networks running, your hearts beating, your houses from burning down and your phone and electricity on. We have the right to enjoy a film once in a while, too, and thankfully pagers allow us to do that. When I go into a film, I do two things: I turn off my 2-way Nextel and set my pager to vibrate. It's not difficult. Anyone who can't/won't keep these devices silent *should* be kicked out (with no refund, IMO), but jamming goes way over the top.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

I agree with the vibrate but not with the off or banned policies. It is a matter of being courteous or not. Not the fault of the devices itself. It's like the gun laws controversy.

Anyway, when I go to the movie I set my pager and cell phone on vibrate.

If my pager goes off I look at it, on my belt usually and either get up, go outside and call the person or ignore it, (which I have done in the past).

If my cell phone goes off I look at it, and if it is from someone I want or need to talk to, I get up and go outside BEFORE I take the call. If they hang up before then, my phone has caller ID and I can call them right back.

So I'm no more of an inconvenience to others than someone going to the snack bar or rest room.

 

[FredHD]

Leave a phone or pager at home? Okay thats real reasonable.
I have no problem with pagers/cellphones in theaters as
they as they stay silent and are not used. I turn mine
off in the theater, and it stays in my pocket. If someone calls. I have no idea and neither do you. If someone has a cellphone or pager that goes off in the theater where someone can hear it or if someone uses their phone in the theater, I have no problem with them being ejected. This of course is during the trailers and feature. I think it's fine for someone to use their phone while we're all waiting for the lights to lower, but once they do lower, the call better end.

So all in all, it's not the phone/pager that is the trouble, but the person using it.

Only once have I had someone answer a call during the feature. And multiple people (including myself) got the point across to the offender that they needed to end the call or leave.

A problem that I run into all the time is people who bring their children to the theater, and the children talk or cry or babble during the feature. That should be grounds for ejection IMO. I'm not against children in the theater as long as they are taught to be quiet.

JW

 

[KlausWinkler]

This is a technology we all did just fine without up until recent years when it became affordable for the masses

I'm sure the same was said once about
-cars
-theatres
-TV
-etc

 

[Malcolm R]

Jamming goes way over the top.

It's apparently practiced in other countries with no compliants. Why is it "way over the top" here?

I still can't figure out how we lived for so long without cell phones, but now people freak out if they're asked to leave them at home for an evening.

 

[Ted Lee]

the problem isn't with the technology, the problem is with the end-users.

i think we can all (more or less) agree that if the people would just set the darn things to vibrate, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.

just like anything else, technology is wonderful when used correctly. it can be annoying (or deadly) if abused.

 

[Paul Richardson]

Let's face it. 99% of the interuptions in movies theaters don't come from on-call people. They are of the "What's up? Not much, just kicking back watching a movie" variety.

I'm an on-call person myself (always have my pager on vibrate), and even though it would inconvience ME to ban pagers and cell phones, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I always turn off my phone before the trailers start.
If this was not an option for me due to emergency coverage responsibility, I would use vibration function and sit on the aisle, and I would quickly exit the auditorium before speaking upon receiving an emergency call.
Folks, this is just the minimum courtesy that any decent human being should give to his fellow man.
Does anybody honestly think otherwise?

 

[Benson R]

Paul there is no reason you need to be inconvenienced at all. You are polite and respectful of the rules so you will not go to United Artists theaters because you need to bring your pager with you. If you brought it in you would be respectful of others and not answer it in the theater and leave it on vibrate. However the guy who still thinks he is in his living room has the "whats up" conversation in his seat because he doesn't care about the rules and the theater does not check up on the show to make sure people aren't bothering the audience. I will repeat it again. If the theaters checked up on the audience and presentation continually throughout the movie this would be a non issue.

 

[David Rogers]

It would be nice if a simple reminder would be enough for folks to get the point, that their incoming beeping and ringing, and then the ensuing talking, was NOT APPROPRIATE for a movie theater or other public performance where your conversation will affect dozens, if not hundreds, of others.

But the sad fact is people *AREN'T* getting the message.

One poster said he couldn't believe how absurd it was, to want to jam signals or ban the devices outright....sorry disagree.

I was in traffic court a few years ago. They had signs in huge letters on the doors of the room; if you opened the door your face was inches from this sign, staring right at it. The sign was printed in two languages. It said very clearly, if you have a cell phone or pager, it MUST BE TURNED TO OFF to enter the courtroom. The court clerk also made this notification during her verbal instructions prior to the judge entering. Then the judge mentioned it from his bench during opening remarks. In the middle of one of the cases, a cell phone goes off behind me. It rings, then rings again, then rings yet again. The judge is talking as if he can't hear this incredibly massively hearable cell phone ringer ... it was impossible not to clearly hear it in the very quiet court room. On the fourth ring he snapped at the person, and the baliff had a few words with that man.

I had to go back to traffic court a few months back. They changed their rules. Now they don't admonish or beg, they don't plead or ask. The signs and instructions and opening remarks now all say a very very simple thing. If you have a mobile communications device that goes off in the court room, it is an AUTOMATIC contempt-of-court violation. This charge was defined with a punishment of a US$50 fine or two days in county jail. The judge specifically pointed out that if one went off and you were charged with CoC, you wouldn't simply open your wallet and hand over the cash ... there'd be some processing time first for you to sit in the jail a bit.

No rings or beeps occured this most recent time back, I should probably note.

Now, funny story, but what's my point? That's COURT, where judges quite literally can do almost anything they like to you. Court is serious; I've never seen anyone go to court and think it's a joke. Yet even there folks didn't get the message when it was a simple request. They had to put force of law, gosh darnit, to make them honor such a simple thing.

But for some reason they don't take the warnings and requests and please-thank-yous in a variety of other public places. People don't adhere to the rule in theaters, they don't adhere to it in restaurants, no where. People with these devices seem to universally think they're entitled to conduct whatever conversations they like wherever they happen to be.

I feel for someone who's on call, and in some instances the on-call contact could literally be over life and death. The Important Person who's on call should leave the theater .. sitting in a theater with a movie running having a conversation is as rude as snoring in church while wearing cutoffs.

But most cells and pagers are for convenience, not necessity. And even so, have some GD respect! I paid good money for a movie ticket, left my home where it's comfortable and where I know everyone there, drove to the theater, stopped other things so I could go enjoy a movie. Is it so much to ask that the stupid cells be turned off?

Apparently so. I've read dozens of articles over the last few years about everywhere in the country average citizens have no respect when it comes to how to use them. They drive without paying attention because they're yakking away. People pay hundreds of dollars for theater and broadway tickets where some name actors have had to interrupt performances to ask someone in the crowd to turn their phone off. A whole audience had to sit there while the actor they came to see stops his performance and asks for some common politeness.

Hell, in Rush Hour there's an outtake where Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are interrupted WHILE FILMING by Tucker's personal cellphone. He was wearing his phone while filming a scene, and it was on. In the clip Jackie Chan says "you interrupt our film, we are filming right now! You waste our film!"

(throws hands up in air)

Jam them, ban them, collect them. Let an usher stand there collecting them in a box, giving out little tags. If I have to fetch a manager while in a movie it's already a ruined experience. If only people would just think about others than themselves ... okay wishful thinking again.

If courts have to threaten jail to get folks to honor their no-cells policy, what makes defenders of mobile liberty believe merely polite requests from civilian business owners will work?

 

[Ted Lee]

that's a great story. could you imagine this sign:
Audible wireless devices are punishsable by fine(s) and/or imprisonment!
yeah baby!
in my best triumph the insult comic dog voice: "I kid....I kid...."

 

[Patrick Sun]

It'd be funny if theaters had seats that would allow the theater to "flush" a person who bad cell phone etiquette, and simply remove them from the theater room when their cell phone rang by dropping their seat through the floor via a trapdoor. (Sure, it's cost prohibitive, but I can dream, can't I?)

 

[Ted Lee]

patrick - awesome idea. may i suggest an enhancement?
i envision a chair with a device that will sense the ringing noise, activate a clamping mechanism that will surround the person by the waist, then jolt them with 120 volts for 15 seconds (i mean we don't want to kill the poor bastards....err....do we? ) then do the flush!

 

[Patrick_S]

Oh please let's get real.
First of all very few of the jobs you mentioned in your post require some one to be on call EVERY day of the year.
Lets look at the ones you mentioned.
Firefighters: I don’t know how it is in your community but when the individual is on duty they are not allowed to be away at the movies. Funny thing is the firefighters in my community have a schedule of so many hours on some many off. I’m certain that this is the general practice in most communities.
Since firefighters have so many hours off why can’t they go to the movies when they are off duty?
Doctors: While there are a very few who are on call all the time, (generally transplant specialists) the vast majority of Doctors do have regularly scheduled times when they are not on call period.
Again, why can’t they go to the movies when they are not on call?
Network administrators: I can only speak from my experience within Fortune 500 companies. Yes we did have people who were on call 24/7; funny thing is we also had a rotating schedule so no individual was on call every day of the year.
I’m certain that some small companies try to get by on the cheap and under staff their IT department and then try to convince some fool to be the only person on-call but that is another matter all together.
So again I say, why can’t they go to the movies when they are not on call?
As for the Public Utilities: My neighbor is a typical repair specialist for a very larger Electric utility here in California and I have ask before if he is on-call 24/7 every day of the year. You guessed it, the answer was no.
So again, why can’t these individuals go to the movies when they are not on-call?
Of course the answer is every single occupation I have mentioned can do just that.
As I stated in my original post, the reason I have zero sympathy for those very few who are on-call 24/7 every day of the year is because they CHOSE their position. They were not drafted into it, if they find the sacrifices are too much, stop complaining and get another job.

 

[Qui-Gon John]

One of the big reasons I am pro vibrate and against OFF or BANS is tracking. If it is off you cannot see who called/paged, even after the movie, which is something I often do.

 

[John Stone]

As I stated in my original post, the reason I have zero sympathy for those very few who are on-call 24/7 every day of the year is because they CHOSE their position. They were not drafted into it, if they find the sacrifices are too much, stop complaining and get another job.

Patrick, despite what you may think, there are all kinds of reasons that people are on call much (or even all) of the time. No one could possibly list them all, so I don't really see the point of your detailed "rebuttal" to my post. My own personal situation is nothing like anything you described (I'll spare you the boring details), and I know plenty of other people who could never go to the movies if it were not for their pagers. The point is, many of us use our pagers responsibly and never infringe on anyone else's rights. Theater owners and managers need to do a better job of laying down the law. They need to start kicking people out on their stupid asses if they can't follow simple rules.
Talking in the theater is a *huge* problem. What is your solution to that? Taped mouths? Wait, don't answer that...

 

[John_Berger]

For decades people went to movies without pagers or cell phones. There is absolutely no reason why now - suddenly - it is a major personal crisis of epic proportions if you can't have a damned piece of electronics and plastic glued to your belt.
Chock another one up to the spoiled consumer who can't live without their precious toys even for a two hour movie! :rolleyes

 

[Patrick_S]

John, sorry you don't see the point but the fact is your examples were very weak and since you took the time to include a personal attack they deserved rebuttal.

I certainly realize there can be non-job related circumstances that require people to be reachable and I myself have experienced such a situation when I was taking care of an ill family member. I understood that some sacrifices had to be made and I accepted that fact. Life went on and the world didn't stop spinning.

Virtually everyone will eventually find himself or herself in a situation when personal sacrifices have to be made, the problem is very few can accept this fact because they feel they have "rights" to things they really don't. That's just seems to be human nature.

Talking in the theater is a *huge* problem. What is your solution to that? Taped mouths? Wait, don't answer that...

In one of the previous threads concerning jamming that same type of statement was also made.

Yes talking is a problem at the movies but it has no relationship to cell phones and beepers.

While there is nothing you can do proactively to stop people from talking (certainly once they do talk they can be removed) the fact is jamming DOES prevent reception thus eliminating the problem.

What? Since we can solve all problems we should not correct the ones we can? Thank god mankind has not been hampered by such obtuse logic or we would still be in the Stone Age.

 

[Chris Dugger]

Some of you guys just don't get it...
As a theatre operator in 6 states, I can tell you that the movie going public is NOT being responsible.
Sure.... If everyone placed their phones on vibrate, that would be one thing and certainly end this issue to an acceptable degree....
BUT IT IS NOT HAPPENING!!! Even when asked prior to the film start.....
It's a shame that some of the posters here think that it is the THEATRES responsibly to police and educate patrons in conduct, respect and manners. Just like the local parents who think it's ok to drop their 12 year old children off at 7pm for a show and then not return until 11pm to pick them up. On top of berating the theatre management when they find out that their children had to be removed from and "R" rated film because they were sneaking in....
Bottom line, John seems to think it is the responsibility that THEATRES bear the brunt of policing this technology. Here we are presented with a MAJOR problem which I can solve, but seems that the answer is not acceptable. Perfect example made earlier in a post about using cell phones in a courtroom. Guess John feels this a violation of ones rights to not be accessible 24/7 if in a court room. But he DOES find it acceptable to disturb up to over 400 people in a theatre that may have paid upwards to 10 bucks to be there. We can NOT police peoples stupidity! People must be RESPONSIBLE for their conduct. If they can't be (setting the phone to vibrate), then why should I as an operator of a service business not be able to correct the problem to benefit my patrons?
Can't tell you the last complaint we have gotten because a patron couldn't accept a cell phone call while they were in watching their movie... and "YES" I do have a few houses that don't have cell phone reception.
Personally, our industry will continue to look seriously into supporting ANY movement to ban cell phones from theatres. Theatres will then place signage at the auditorium doors notifying the customer that they are accountable for using such cell phone inside the theatre and will be ejected and/or fined.
Guess we will see what effect it will have on whether cell phone users patronize our theatres.... My bet is that we get complimented on the choice and not condemned.
Dugger

 

[John_Berger]

Bottom line, John seems to think it is the responsibility that THEATRES bear the brunt of policing this technology.

I know that you mean John Stone, not me , but I wanted to chime in, having been an assistant manager at a local theater for a few years.
Theaters should not necessarily bear the brunt of policing this technology, but they should not be criticized if they want to implement blocking.
Contrary to popular belief, theaters are not public places. They are private. You purchase the PRIVILEGE to enter that establishment (which is private property) when you buy a ticket; therefore, you are subject to the rules and regulations of that theater. So, if a theater implements cell and pager blocking (which I do support) the patron that purchases a ticket has acknowledged and voluntarily subjected himself to these rules and codes of conduct and has no reason to complain.
If he doesn't like the policy and if he can't be without his {sarcasm galore}pwecious, wittwe cell phone,{/sarcasm galore} for two measly hours, then he is under no obligation to purchase the ticket and he is welcome to go to another theater that has no problems if he disrespects other patrons with his cell phone and pager.
Just my two hundreths of a U.S. dollar. Please convert that to your own currency denomination if necessary.