When I was in high school, my friends and I went to the movies a lot. Almost every weekend, we went to see something. Part of this experience was getting popcorn and a soft drink. I liked getting the biggest popcorn and drink they offered. This was in the days before they had the combo deals on popcorn and a drink. I began noticing that when I would order the large popcorn and drink, they would always go over and pick up the popcorn container and ask, “this one?” just to confirm that I wanted the largest one they had. I could see this being their default response to asking about it because there would be no reason to dirty up one of those largest containers unless someone truly wanted that size. So, I because familiar with their routine. I also thought I would try to make my desire for the largest size clear so they wouldn’t have to get clarification from me. On one visit I tried this out by declaring I wanted a “GIGANTIC” popcorn and a “GIGANTIC” Coke. The young lady behind the counter replied in a snarky voice, “We only have large!” I told her to just give me the large and I mumbled my own snarky comments to my friends. They weren’t loud enough for her to hear but she knew I was talking about her. I got my snacks and didn’t think anything else about it until my next trip to the movies.
I was going to see the animated film Heavy Metal with some friends. We were running late and wanted to get into the theater as quickly as possible. The young lady from the snack counter was in the ticket booth this time. My friends got their tickets before me and went in. She asked for my ID slowing me down. I was old enough to see the film and I’m older than some of my friends who were with me. I think the only reason she carded me was because of my attitude about the gigantic snacks.
The main reason I remember seeing Heavy Metal was because of a drunk in the audience. This man was not with us, but we were sitting near him and his wife. We were sure that “Harold” and his wife had started the evening at Buddies Pool Hall just around the corner from the theater. Harold would provide a running commentary on the film. In one scene, there was a band of creatures playing music in the corner of a bar. Harold said, “There’s Elvis Presley! I thought he was dead!” His wife said “HAROLD!!” and he replied rapidly, “OK! OK! I’ll be quiet! I’ll be quiet! I didn’t say anything wrong!” I don’t remember how many times we got extra commentary from Harold. But later in the film, there is a scene where a scantily clad woman is riding on a huge bird. When the bird lands, some soldiers come and capture the bird and the lady. The leader of the soldiers tells them to take the woman away. One of the men asks, “What do we do with the bird?” He replies, “Kill it!” Harold immediate replies, “That’s what I’m trying to do! I’m drinking it as fast as I can!” The we hear, “HAROLD!!!” and “OK! OK! I’ll be quiet! I’ll be quiet! I didn’t say anything wrong!”