OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
7A
MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008
COMMENTARY
Young teens disrupt entire movie theater
"It looks like a zoo in here," my friend remarked about the movie theater full of seat-crawling, yelling and purposefully loud teenagers in the audience.
"Yeah, except a zoo smells a little better," I replied scathingly.
When I went to see the movie "Prom Night," all I wanted was some mindless entertainment. What I ended up with was a headache brought on by the youth of Lawrence.
I was probably asking for it considering the movie was "Prom Night," but I didn't think wanting to see a cheap thrill was going to result in an hour-and-a-half of temple rubbing and checking my watch.
Movie theaters are not doing enough to correct the problem of disruptive teenagers.
One passive solution is warning patrons of the movie who looked as if they were mature enough (I was sporting a beard that night, so I concluded that the amount of facial hair men have equals their maturity level) that the movie was already full of teenagers. If I had any problems or complaints, I could have reported them. I was caught off guard, and actually pleased for a moment, that the theater had confronted the problem and was actively seeking feedback.
My pleasure quickly subsided, though, when I realized that I could miss a crucial plot twist to the movie by having to leave the theater to report any problems.
I paid $7.50 to see a movie, not to babysit. Any problems that the theater employees have foreseen should be resolved by the time I nestle in my seat.
A large chunk of attendees to "Prom Night" would not have made it past the maturity prescreening process, though, so other courses of action were employed.
One apparent resolution was in the form of a well-built security guard armed with a nightstick. He threatened the audience by saying if he saw one glow from a cell phone or heard one whisper, he would not hesitate to force people to leave. Even I reached into my pocket and switched my phone from vibrate mode to silent.
This tactic worked until a little blood showed up on the screen, and the audience consciously shrilled, which was followed by subsequent laughter.
Then the high-pitched whispers began, and the guard had to once again interrupt the movie to instill fear back into the audience.
An employee of the theater said that once the guard had to carry a teenager over his shoulder and out the theater after she refused to stop texting and talking. She said the audience gave a low-key applause when she was removed.
"It was like 'Scary Movie.' You know, without the dying part," the employee said.
I looked around the theater and was thankful that I dodged growing up in this generation that was having a hard time growing up themselves.
I have been miniature, but I cannot recall being disruptive to the point of aggravating a theater full of people. The action the movie theater has taken is only a temporary solution, and I realize that the theaters have to make money. Teenagers will grow up eventually (perhaps not soon enough), but not until the theaters stop accommodating them.
I, though, will not be frequenting the theater as I used to. I know I'm only a number to them and a gaggle of giggling teenagers far outweighs one disgruntled college student.
But for those fun, mindless popcorn flicks, I'll be staying home and making some Jiffy Pop.
Hirschfeld is an Augusta junior in journalism.
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>> COMMENTARY
When English words don't work abroad
I met several exchange students in my journalism classes. All of them are friendly, eager to learn and enjoy sharing experiences from their home countries. One thing that always amazes me about them is that they are at least bilingual.
I've never felt more stupid than when I was studying abroad and at least 90 percent of my schoolmates were bilingual.
The minute I stepped off the plane in Ireland I felt like a small child in a big world. No familiar faces, no idea where to go or what to do.
I remember asking the cabby why all the highway signs were in two languages. He said, "It's Irish, girl. Did you think we didn't have our own language?"
I knew studying abroad would be a hard and trying experience for me. I have always been a homebody. My mom and I are very close. I just couldn't muster up the courage to apply for any other colleges.
Making the decision to go abroad was scary for me, but I needed a different experience. I needed to know more than Kansas.
I learned more in the 25 minutes after I got off the plane than I did in my first two years of college.
Despite my sudden embarrassment, I stayed silent and thought that maybe I should have done more research about my new "home."
I had signed up late for a place to live, of course, so I wasn't able to have my own room.
I shared a room with a girl I knew absolutely nothing about. When we met, my heart sank a little because she seemed really nice, but she could barely speak English.
How was I supposed to live with someone who can't understand anything I said?
My roommate, Elisa, was one of those amazing people who already spoke Italian and German. Learning English was next on her list.
Elisa plunged herself into an English-speaking country, knowing that all her assignments would
need to be written in English and that all her classes would be taught in English.
Her resolve astonished me. I was completely humbled. That's when I realized that knowing only one language was really going to hinder me for the rest of my life.
I've tried to learn languages, but I started too late in life. I could never catch on, and I've struggled through every language course I've ever taken.
I owe so much of my incredible abroad experience to Elisa who made me amazing Italian food and taught me all the fun Italian cuss words.
I can't understand why some Americans have such a problem with our country being bilingual.
When a person knows more than one language, others make immediate assumptions about them: that they're smart, worldly and interesting. Why wouldn't everyone want to be like that?
We ended up becoming great friends, and I stayed my last week with her family in Venice where Elisa translated between us the entire time.
Tyler Doehring
It may be too late for me, and
I haven't totally given up, but I am definitely going to teach my children different languages from a young age.
I wish my parents would have done the same for me, but it wasn't a priority in this country when I was young, and now people are eating their words.
Unfortunately, those words are only in English.
Simmermon is a Leawood senior in journalism.
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editorials around the state
Prices must increase to revive sound service
service
If you're planning on traveling by air anytime soon, brace yourself.
You could be in for a bumpy trip.
The Airline Quality Rating showed a decrease in on-time arrivals and increases in customer complaints, baggage problems and the number of passengers bumped from overbooked flights
In fact, the industry slumped last year in every area examined as part of the rating. Worse yet, one of the study's co-authors said it didn't appear the situation had bottomed out.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The problems stem largely from high fuel costs, which have prompted major airlines to cut jobs and scale back on passenger services and amenities. In tandem, airlines are charging more and saddling passengers with extra fees.
That combination is driving complaints skyward. But the problems go beyond gripes and groans. The study's authors say the commercial airline system has grown so dysfunctional that it's not
unusual for passengers to face delays measured in days instead of hours.
Just ask one of the thousands of passengers who were stranded this week when hundreds of American Airlines flights were canceled when the carrier's fleet of MD-80 jets was grounded for inspection.
High demand continues to place stress on the overloaded system. More than a quarter of flights arrived late as on-time arrivals fell for a fifth consecutive year.
On the more positive side for air travelers,the three top
ranked airlines for 2007 were all low-cost carriers — AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest. So the glimmer of hope is that relatively affordable, relatively reliable service can still be found.
Overall, it's hard to see how airlines will be able to improve service, reliability and convenience without substantially raising their prices.
Paying more is never a good thought. But neither is arriving late, being stuck for days or facing long, slow-moving lines for overloaded flights.
—Topeka Capital-Journal April 11 editorial
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