# Taking empty popcorn tubs out of the garbage and getting free refills **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386 "2010-07-20T19:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Hennessy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hennessy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hennessy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/121 "2010-07-24T08:34:31Z")
I skipped a good three pages and I apologize if the subject has changed. I wouldn’t go in the garbage to get a used popcorn bucket but I have no problem using someone else bucket. If you can share with a friend, you can share with a stranger. You don’t know if you friend jacks off or not. I admit I’m not 100% brainwashed, I mean civilized. If you walk in early enough you will have a nice selection of buckets and cups to choose from that hasn’t even been tossed (lazy people) . One time I found 10 dollars, it’s become a habit. Besides that popcorn and soda is going to taste the same as it would in a fresh bucket or cup. I know I got some wolf in me. Yet and still, Nay is my vote… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/122 "2010-07-24T11:34:11Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > It’s not also just a question of bacteria for me. It’s gross as in tacky to me. Like sneaking your date into a movie theatre because you’re too cheap to shell out for a second ticket. Really? She didn’t seem to mind at the time. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/123 "2010-07-24T11:37:18Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Do you find stuff to eat aswell when you’re rooting through the garbage? Only if it’s right on top and there are no bugs on it. I have my standards. well, one small bug us not so bad ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/124 "2010-07-25T07:04:14Z")
I wouldn’t do it, but not believing someone on a message board when your only reason to do so is your own prejudice makes you a much shittier person. The only purpose of telling someone you don’t believe them is to hurt them, and at least the OP would not be hurting anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/125 "2010-07-25T18:33:48Z")
If popcorn is necessary for a movie then rent the movie for a dollar when it’s released to the public and watch it at home with your own popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/126 "2010-07-25T18:46:22Z")
Movie theater popcorn is better than any popcorn I can make at home ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/127 "2010-07-25T19:03:48Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Movie theater popcorn is better than any popcorn I can make at home Oh well, in that case, that’s all the justification you need to steal it. :rolleyes: Seriously, where did you get the idea that “If I don’t do X, I won’t get what I want” means “I am within my rights to do X”? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/128 "2010-07-25T19:25:37Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Movie theater popcorn is better than any popcorn I can make at home If only there was an electronic encyclopedia that updates itself continuously with terabytes of information like the computer on Star Trek. Then we would be able to search the data using a string of words such as "[how to make movie popcorn at home"](http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1737342/make_movie_popcorn_at_home.html?cat=22). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/129 "2010-07-26T20:29:48Z")
I say nay and ugh, but not in that order. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/130 "2010-07-26T20:35:10Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Movie theater popcorn is better than any popcorn I can make at home Then I guess it’s worth more money too? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/131 "2010-07-26T20:37:12Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > > [@PSXer](#): > > > > Movie theater popcorn is better than any popcorn I can make at home > > If only there was an electronic encyclopedia that updates itself continuously with terabytes of information like the computer on Star Trek. > > Then we would be able to search the data using a string of words such as "[how to make movie popcorn at home"](http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1737342/make_movie_popcorn_at_home.html?cat=22). 😉 That won’t work if you’re lazy as well as digustingly cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/132 "2010-07-26T21:25:01Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I wouldn’t do it, but not believing someone on a message board when your only reason to do so is your own prejudice makes you a much shittier person. The only purpose of telling someone you don’t believe them is to hurt them, and at least the OP would not be hurting anyone. Oh bullshit. :rolleyes: The guy started a thread. We’re entitled to comment on what he said. And I think the whole, “well, I don’t REALLY do that!” is backpedaling. And if someone does so, we’re gonna call him on it. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/133 "2010-07-26T21:39:35Z")
I voted a resounding “no” on this poll. The closest I’ve ever come to this is in college. It was very common for students in my dorm to leave their pizza delivery boxes on top of the enclosed recycling bins, even though they often left much of the pizza in the box. On Sunday mornings, I would sneak the leftover pizza into my dorm room fridge. Yeah, looking back it was really stupid–but that’s what you do when you’re a dead broke college student. ---
**Author:** ![TomGorstaad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@TomGorstaad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomGorstaad)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/134 "2010-07-26T22:41:39Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > It is kind of gross, but I am not going to pay $6 for popcorn > [@PSXer](#): > > You can’t enjoy a movie without popcorn. What am I supposed to do with my hands for 2 hours? > > $6 for popcorn is the real crime. I am like Robin Hood: a noble thief fighting injustice. > [@PSXer](#): > > After football games everyone leaves their discarded collectible plastic cups in the stands. You can go through and grab an armful and then have a nice collection of cups at home. Wash them of course and it is fine. Look, seriously: What is wrong with you? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/135 "2010-07-26T22:49:29Z")
In the first place, I don’t especially like popcorn. I don’t _dislike_ it, but if Inanna had intended us to eat popcorn while waiting for Megan Fox to do something stupid and suggestive she would not have given us nachos. In the second place, that’s just gross. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/136 "2010-07-27T21:46:06Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > > [@gurujulp](#): > > > > Not as bad as finding out that your coworkers are taking the soda cups and popcorn containers from the empty theatre and rinsing them out and RESELLING THEM and pocketing the cash. > > > > How many of your coworkers? > > > > ALL OF THEM. > > Holy Crap people, did you miss this post and not notice it’s a lot grosser and more dishonest than the OP? > > Let’s see if I understand this. The theater keeps tab on cups and popcorn containers to track sales and help prevent free give aways and stuff? So they scoop up containers already sold , rinse them and resell them so they can pocket the cash? Is that it? > > Is there not any management in the theater to prevent this, or is management in on it? I thought it was rather odd- But I wasn’t trying to hijack the thread, either, so I didn’t try to reemphasize it… Management was NOT in on it at the theatre I worked at. I don’t think. I hope. But it was a mass conspiracy among the employees- I found out about it because someone assumed I already knew about it. I let them know kindly that I would bust the shit out of them if I ever could find any evidence. As an employee, I always brought my own, as they did inventory the cups and bags for cost, but cared not at all for the stuff that went in it, like popcorn or soda. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/137 "2010-07-28T18:48:50Z")
I’ve _almost_ done this. Back in high school, when I had no money and fewer principles, I’d pick up popcorn bags that had been left behind by other patrons on my way out of the theater, empty them, and save them for my next trip to the movies. I wouldn’t pick them out of the trash. I’m not going to defend this practice. I’m not proud of it. But I did do it. But I don’t think that it’s particularly unsanitary. The bags weren’t in the trash, they were on seats, or in cup holders, or standing up on the theater floor (the same place I would put my own bag of popcorn when not eating it). And, while I may have been sharing germs with strangers, it would only be the germs that stayed in the empty bag for a few days to a week between theater excursions. I bet you get worse in a public pool, or shaking hands with new acquaintances. FWIW, I was not one of the OP’s supporters in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/138 "2010-07-28T20:29:30Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > But I don’t think that it’s particularly unsanitary. Never mind where they’ve been - a grease-infused paper bag provides a lovely substrate for any number of pathogens to properly colonize before you returned to the theatre. (Glad it worked out for you, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/139 "2010-07-28T20:54:11Z")
Or people who, say, sneeze into the popcorn they’re done with. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386/140 "2010-07-28T21:17:09Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > > > But I don’t think that it’s particularly unsanitary. > > Never mind where they’ve been - a grease-infused paper bag provides a lovely substrate for any number of pathogens to properly colonize before you returned to the theatre. > [@Zsofia](#): > > Or people who, say, sneeze into the popcorn they’re done with. My understanding is that most germs passed by sneezing don’t survive for days outside the human body. Even if they do, this can’t be worse than someone who sneezes into their hand and then touches the door, or sneezes behind you in the theater, or just sneezes, in general, near you. This sort of stuff happens all the time, but there aren’t any three page threads full of astonishment that someone would dare to touch a doorknob without donning gloves. I’m not saying that eating out of other people’s castoff popcorn bags is as sanitary as eating off of freshly sterilized china. I just think it’s very unlikely to be a significant risk. People are really terrible at estimating the risk of infection, and part of that is that we seem to consider “stranger’s germs” as far far more deadly than those of people we know. A kitchen hand towel probably has more pathogens in it than this bag would, and we regularly use those to dry our hands when they’re “clean”. I agree that it’s gross to eat off of someone else’s popcorn bag. But that’s a social distinction, not a biological one. I just don’t think it’s particularly less sanitary than sharing a bag of popcorn with someone you know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-empty-popcorn-tubs-out-of-the-garbage-and-getting-free-refills/547386.md?page=6)