Yes, not all cashiers at movie theaters are retards. I know this because I currently am one. It is a crappy job, yes. But it’s a thousand times superior to my last summer job, so I’ll freaking take it, thank you very much. So I would like to offer at least a small defense for my concession-stand cashier associates:
The Combo: We have to offer you the combo. Yes, we have to. In the movie theater I work at (the corporation rhymes with “Beagle”), there are signs on every register stating “If Concession Attendant does not offer you our combo special, see the manager for a free movie pass for your next visit.” And if you get your free movie pass, then I get written up. Yes, the combo is expensive, it’s a lot of stuff (at the moment in my workplace the combo is “Two large drinks, and either a large popcorn or a tub and you get free Skittles! :
:”) and no, you probably don’t want it. But I still have to offer it to you and goddamn it, I will offer it. Whether I have to cram it in before you have a chance to order (“Hi, would you like to try our combo today?”) or if I sneak it in after you give me your order (“And you weren’t interested in the popcorn combo tonight, were you?”), I will freaking offer it to you because it’s a requirement. Also, occasionally on weekend nights we have contests where whoever sells the most combos gets an extra dollar on their next paycheck for each combo they sold (unless they disqualify you because someone else logged in on your register while you were on break… ::growl:: but that’s another story). So yeah, I’m gonna push the freaking combo, if only because I hate it when jerks go “Oooh, you didn’t ask me, I get a free movie!!” when technically as long as the transaction isn’t finished and I haven’t closed the cash drawer, I can still ask, and because if you order a combo it’s just one less button to push. So that is the deal with the combo. Just say “no thank you” and move along.
The “Butter”: I can’t explain it, but it must be something about the greasiness of the “buttery topping” because it seems to be near impossible to remember if someone said they wanted butter on their popcorn or not. It happens to me, and I’ve watched it happen to almost everyone I work with. You take the order, you fill the popcorn bag, then you stop and mentally go “ehh…” and you have to turn around and go “Did you want butter on this, sir?” because the customer’s butter preference has just slipped right out of your underpaid, overworked little head. Maybe it’s the fumes from the popper… But it’s noisy, and it’s busy and, frankly, it’s not that big a deal, so just say yes or no please, it takes about two seconds, it won’t kill you.
Not Remembering Your Order: I can’t speak for the theaters you frequent, but at mine, I take your order as I am standing at the register, and as you say each item, I punch it in on my handy touch-screen thingy. So if I have to ask you to repeat anything, it should only be because I can’t hear you, the butter thing, or perhaps what kind of drink you’d like, because that often goes the way of the butter question as I’m trying to poke the buttons. So sounds like you’ve just got a stupid cashier, right there.
Courtesy Cups and Ice: Okay, I really can’t defend this, I dunno what kinda morons you’re dealign with if they can’t find a freaking courtesy cup and give you some ice, that’s ridiculous. There are always assloads of courtesy cups in our concession stand, if I don’t have a stack at my register, which is rare, I will run and get you one or two or twelve or however many you need. Not having courtesy cups is indeed a bunch of crap (Although our water is in coolers, so it should be cold when you get it… but still, courtesy cups are essential).
So, I can assure you that not all theater cashiers are morons, and the ones that are also inspire my insidious disdain (They’re the same ones who throw things in the candy cabinets about willy-nilly, making counts at the end of the night take three times as long… but that’s another rant (oh and I’ve got one coming eventually, I’ve only been there a month and a half, don’t worry, it’ll be here… )).
So, as a movie theater employee, I implore you all, **a)**To be nice to your concession worker, and b) to just go ahead, ignore the rules and bring your own candy and drinks! You know that we are completely screwing you up the arse. You know that it will cost you three times the amount you paid for the tickets to munch. But you know what? You keep paying it. You keep buying the stuff. You don’t need a huge soda and a tub of popcorn to sit through a movie! If me and my oral fixation can sit through X2 with nothing to chew but my nails, then you can too! And whatever you do, do not complain about the prices to the concession cashier. I will simply shrug and say “I don’t set the prices.” And I don’t. I only laugh at the people who pay them.
And I probably would have tried to sell dalovindj on a large water instead of a small. “It’s only a quarter more for thirteen more ounces!” 
