Those that think they’re doing something wrong won’t admit it. However as TriPolar mentioned a few posts above you; some will admit to it if they haven’t done anything wrong in their opinion.
Personally speaking, anything I carry in, I also carry out. Years of being a boy scout I guess. I also think the argument that “someone is being paid to clean it up” is a weak excuse for the lazy. So is the argument that the trash cans aren’t conveniently placed in theaters or sports venues. :dubious: The concession stand wasn’t conveniently located to you either; but you managed to make that trip to get the soon-to-be-garbage didn’t you?
I always “pack it out,” if at all possible, regardless of the venue. I feel it’s my duty not to make too much of a mess, but I used to work in food service, so… My wife gets mad a me in bars with shelled peanuts when I don’t throw the shells on the floor like everyone else.
I was at a movie last week where normal food and beer can be served (Cinetopia in Beaverton, OR). Walking out, I was (again) surprised at the messes left behind. Spilled dishes, smashed food on the floor, knocked over beverages, and wrappers everywhere. Cinetopia specifically encourages people to leave things at their seat, presumably to limit the amount of reusable items being thrown out, but these people could at least keep their messes contained in the carriers provided, not strewn around everywhere…
I personally don’t think the expectation is that you clean it up in certain venues. Just like how you don’t bus your own dishes, clean your own tables at restaurants. I mean, yeah, I can do so and feel great about myself for being such a clean human being, but, on the other hand, aren’t I depriving someone of work? I certainly didn’t give a shit when I was in the service industry if people left their crap behind. More money for me, since I had to stay later and clean their shit up!
It’s wired into me to throw my stuff away at any venue. I can’t help it.
Also, I’ve had to clean up movie theaters before. Sure, it’s your job to but it’s not like that’s the only thing you do at that job. If everyone leaves their trash and it takes you three times as long to clean up then you have less time to finish your other tasks. So yes, leaving your trash is making things worse for someone cleaning up after you, how would you think otherwise?
I’ve had to clean in movie theaters before as well. But, it wasn’t my job. It wasn’t anyone’s job who worked while the theater was open. The people whose job it was to clean the theater only came in in the morning before the first show. But when people didn’t clean up after themselves, someone would have to try to work double-time to pick the popcorn buckets up and still do their normal duties. And if more than a few people left trash, there literally wasn’t enough time to pick it up between showings.
I worked security in a few sports grounds- it was pretty common for the match stewards to have to help clear up, which is likewise not their job. And putting stuff under your seat definitely makes it harder and more awkward. It was actually simplest when everyone threw it in a heap in the end of the row, or by the front barriers, which a lot of people did.
There were no trash bins, for security reasons, so I could understand people leaving stuff in a heap rather than take a sticky part eaten burger with them out of the grounds and half a mile down the street to the nearest bin, but I never did get why people feel the need to hide their rubbish under seats, or even wedged into the seats. If you’re gonna leave stuff, make it obvious, or people that are checking 300 seats are likely to miss it.
I’ll throw it out; if the bins are overflowing I’ll leave it in the growing pile beside the bin, trying to do it without blocking the path.
I wonder how many of the people who leave it behind, and specially of those who leave it under the seat, clean after others at home. My guess is not many.
It varies. At any outside or public park venue I carry trash to the bin. Indoors/stadium is a function of the refreshment price. If the price is exorbitant, I will act as though in a fine restaurant and all cleanup is the staff’s responsibility. If I’m paying only fast food prices I’ll bus my own area like at McDonald’s.
My mother is 91 years old and she would still slap me upside the head if I didn’t remove EVERY bit of trash when I leave a venue. It’s common courtesy. It would never occur to me that “the ushers or staff get paid to clean up.” That might be the case, but why should I save a few seconds and make their jobs that much harder? The price of the tickets or refreshments has nothing to do with it. EVERY considerate, caring, responsible person should be cleaning up after himself/herself. Period. Should I toss trash out of my car window because the work crews from the minimum security prison nearby “are happy with the opportunity to get outside and work a litter patrol?”
Do you bus your own table at a restaurant? Not McDonalds, if you go to a sit down restaurant with waiters do you clean up your table when you are done eating?
It sounds like part the the variety of opinions then is regional differences. I happen to know that not only is cleaning the theaters one of the jobs listed on the duty sheet at the local theater chain, but it’s #1 (right before cleaning the bathrooms). Taking tickets is actually lower down the list.
That doesn’t seem at all comparable to me. A restaurant is specifically there to fulfill your dining needs which includes the preparation and serving of food. It’s a given that the clearing of the dishes is necessarily part of the experience. A better example would be to ask if I would clean out the contents of my purse at the table and expect the wait staff to throw away my old tissues and gum wrappers. The concessions at a movie theater or arena are incidental. Just because they are made available that doesn’t imply an invitation to leave your refuse on the ground. Actually what I’m wondering is how this behavior became so commonplace to begin with. Did the first theater owners instruct people to leave their trash behind? Did they not provide trash receptacles(unlike today, where they’re conveniently located on your way out the door)? Who was the first person that thought it was okay to do this?
Thank you, WOOKINPANUB. This exactly. A restaurant does not normally provide a location to dispose of dishes, trash, and other materials. This would be impractical. A performance venue doesn’t normally have “table service” at your seat. You bring it in (from the concessions stand), you take it out. If I am in a casual restaurant, where I pick up the food at the counter on a tray or in a container, then I will dispose of all trash in the appropriate containers and return my tray to the proper location.
What am I missing in this conversation? Courteous, responsible people clean up after themselves. I’ve never been in a concert venue where they projected a big “Just leave all your trash under your seat!” sign before the performance. And I’ve stood in enough congealed soda pop and walked over enough popcorn to know that it is disgusting for those who come in after me. Be a decent human being!
Call me provincial, but I also go out of my way to leave my hotel rooms in good condition for the housekeeping staff. I know it’s their job, but why should I make it harder?
(I now that you are not advocating for leaving a location in poor condition, but you struck another chord with me and I had to post another comment.)
I’m not talking about movie theaters. I’m talking about outdoor stadiums that have been set up to be swept out and hosed down after an event, and there is staff to do it. Depending on your path out of the stadium there may not be any trashcans or they may be overflowing. If I ate some food in the concession area there would be trash cans there and I’d use them, but there are seating areas where it is customary to leave behind the trash and I don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s not a movie theater where people will be piling in for the next showing, it’s not a park, it’s an area designed for that kind of cleanup. And the venue doesn’t care, they encourage it because they don’t want you to hesitate to buy food at the stands because it may be difficult to clean up.