To be shocked at the amount of litter on the theatre floor?

[girlfriend44]

Been to see the Pantomime this afternoon.
As we left couldn't believe the amount of rubbish that had just been discarded on the floor.
Ice cream containers, drinks, sweet wrappers etc.

There were people standing at the front with boxes for the litter. WTF is wrong with people?
Take it home or put In the bin.

Someone's got to go round now and pick it all up.

Honestly it was so disgusting. How slobby.
It's like the theatre volunteers are just servants.
I think if I was the theatre I would have announced it to put rubbish in the bins at the end also.
😡

I volunteer in a theatre and sometimes it's just disgusting. And it's always the families with children who leave the most crap.
I wish we could just ban food but, unfortunately, the stuff we sell is a vital source of revenue.
Please, folks, if you wouldn't leave popcorn scattered all over your living room floor, then please don't leave it all over the theatre!

Humans are like cockroaches. We run around, consuming everything and making a bloody mess.

Makes you wonder what their homes are like🤢

Awful, just awful.

The plane though shocks me the most. Walking from the back to get off and the further up I went thr most disgusting ot got, especially premium economy! I eveb said to the crew guy behind me omg how disgusting and he said this is nothing!

I couldn't believe it! They literally ask you every trolley service ( I was long haul) for any rubbish so no excuse really.

The DCs both commented on how bad the plane was as well when we went on holiday. Walking through premium economy was disgusting. The flight attendants were pretty good so there really was no excuse for leaving the state that was left

Went to see a show in London the other week (a musical) and I also was surprised by this - there were staff standing in the sides isles at the end of the show for people to put their rubbish/drinks glasses in and still loads of people left glasses by their seats, rubbish on them and on the floor etc. I had people opening bottles of fizz and chinking their glasses behind me in the middle of the show, people loudly eating popcorn, loudly chatting away etc. Which can be very, very distracting and annoying.

Theatres make zero money and remain open by the skin of their teeth. Sweets, ice cream and drinks are really important revenue sources.

Obviously. Doesnt mean it makes for a great customer experience, though. For me, it's counter productive as I, who was previously an avid theatre-goer, now attend far less, as its no longer as enjoyable an experience.

Yes agree with all of these:

Theatres
Cinemas
Planes
Beaches

And don't forget:

Parks
Lay-by's
Roadsides
Rivers
Car Parks
Concerts (and throwing bottles of urine)

Bet they don't get this at the Royal Opera House though!

I volunteer in a local theatre and picking up at the end of performances is eye opening! I've always cleared up after myself and have been surprised at just how much people just drop stuff. I doubt announcements telling people to take their rubbish would help either, they don't listen; it's enough trying to keep them from taking pictures!

I regularly go to the Theatre - but not in Pantomime season. The 'norm' is that at the end of the show you take your rubbish and drop it in the black bags that the staff have on the way out. Not difficult TBH.

We went to Frozen last week and the people at the end of our row left loads of glasses lined up by their seats, which actually meant I couldn't leave without my husband picking them all up. Due to disability, I would have knocked them over and likely smashed them had I tried to pass them!

It's wrong and I agree with the OP that it is unacceptable. Though I am not surprised.

Twice have been to the theatre when in Paris over the last two years and was not an issue.

Seriously? You need it announced to know to put your rubbish in a bin and not leave it on the floor?

Agreed - it was the same after a panto performance we went to this afternoon. I suppose they think it's somebody else's job to clear up their mess. Sad that the adults are not setting a good example to their kids.

This isn't new. As a kid in the 70s I was told to drop my rubbish on the floor by my mother who is pretty well brought up so to me that was normal. I don't do it now. I must ask my Mum if she still does it.

My son works in a theatre, he comes home most nighs saying people are pigs. He works the bar and people are just as dirty there as they are in the auditorium.

It's disgusting, not just the theatre though...so many people have just got into the habit of dropping their litter on the floor wherever they stand (or sit) in the expectation that somebody else will clear up after them.
Why?

There is a sense of entitlement among members of the general public that has worsened since the pandemic.

I think there is also a dismissive attitude of "there are people who are paid to clear up after us" and I see it everywhere. People abandon their shopping trolleys in the middle of the car park rather than walk 20 metres. Pee is left on the seats of public toilets. A small child throws food around Wetherspoons and the parents don't make any token effort to pick it up. I saw some horrendous things as a hotel housekeeper—it was like certain guests went out of their way to make life difficult for the cleaners!

My daughter works front of house. The state some people leave the theatre in is disgusting. She says I’d never have let her do that.

It's not just cinemas and theatres, it's bloody everywhere. I've not flown for about 10 years and went on holiday at half term - I was disgusted by the state of the plane when we got off. I can accept the odd bit of dropped food here and there, but there were empty packets, cups and cans strewn all over the place. The grass verges around town are a disgrace with people lobbing stuff out of cars (saw someone hurl a carrier bag of rubbish out of their passenger window), and takeaway wrappers abandoned in the carpark where people open their door, drop it out and then drive off. It's depressing how little respect some people have for their surroundings.

Years ago we went to the cinema to see Avatar (a film with a central message about conservation / the environment). A family brought supermarket bags of snacks in (nothing wrong with that BUT). They left a landfull tip of crap all over their seats when they left. Irony died that day.

It's a sad reflection of modern life that people can't go for 2 hours without eating. There's no need for it at all.

The last time we went to the cinema, I vowed it was the last as people were slurping, chomping and rustling throughout the entire film.

I donr go to the theatre though. I go to the cinema where its common to just leave empty popcorn containers and drinks at your seat when you leave. So no I woukdnt know its different for theatres unless it was obvious or I was told well I now known from here that its different.

As a kid in the 80s/90s we were regular cinema and theatregoers. My parents would absolutely never have tolerated leaving litter anywhere. But leaving popcorn boxes, ice cream tubs etc. at your seats in the cinema/theatre wasn't seen in the same way. I don't claim to understand it, but they saw it as somehow different - like leaving dirty crockery and other waste from your meal on a table in a restaurant or a hotel breakfast room.

As others have mentioned cinemas displaying signs asking for customers to leave rubbish at their seats, this clearly isn't just an attitude on the part of entitled customers, either.

My wife finds this behaviour poor, and I understand this point of view. These days I take the rubbish with me, and often there's a staff member with a rubbish bag, collecting stuff on the way out.