Defiance vs. Doubt: A cinema manager's encounter

By Kevin Lally

Our reader Mike Getz, owner of the Sutton Cinemas in Grass Valley, Calif., reports ona dubious dispute overDoubt and Defiance at his theatre. Here's the account submitted by the cinema's assistant manager, Andrew Blandford:

"While I was cleaning the theatre for Defiance, a man came out and told Michael, the snack bar attendant, that he had fallen asleep during Defiance, and that he was therefore going to go see Doubt, and he promptly turned around and walked into the theatre where Doubt would soon be showing, leaving his ticket for Defiance on the snack bar counter. I said I would take care of it. I went in and asked the man if he was the one who fell asleep in Defiance, and he said he was. I told him that I could not allow him to see Doubt for free, but I would be willing to compromise and let him watch Defiance again.

He then followed me out of the theatre and explained that he had actually wanted to se Doubt all along, but he didn't notice that Defiance actually wasn't Doubt, and then he fell asleep before he could find out for sure. He seemed like he was obviously making it up as he went, but I was not in the mood to accuse him of lying.

So, after explaining the dilemma thathis dilemma was causing me--namely, that I would essentially be letting someone see two movies for the price of one--I decided that I would compromise and let him buy a senior ticket for Doubt. He agreed rather amiably, and paid six dollars.

Overall it was a rather pleasant exchange of concerns and possible solutions, which ended in what I feel was a reasonable and acceptable conclusion. I thought it was a nice story about a patron who probably lied but didn't get mad at me for not just accepting it and letting him do whatever the heck he wanted. The best summary I can think of is that he sought to overcome the rules of the theatre through an act of Defiance, and I, armed with a healthy measure of Doubt, denied him his request."