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You’re a Loser, Baby
I must admit, after reading Kris Conesa’s 411
column, especially “sobering up with coffee and
cigarettes” — only imbeciles smoke cigarettes — as
well as the $1,000 No Parking incident (a scofflaw
scumbag) and his pretentious tone in name-dropping
ad-nauseum, I’ve come to the only conclusion
possible — Mr. Conesa is an asshole of the first
order, and that stench emanating around the corner
from Mansion (another run-of-the-Million club) is
the foul essence of his being. [The 411, “Market
Madness,” by Kris Conesa, published Feb. 7.] Perhaps
a shower with soap would help.
Ernie Sandoval
Miami
Great Job
Great story by Cynthia Archbold on the proposed
Memorandum of Understanding between Miami-Dade
County, the City of Miami, Miami Art Museum, the
Historical Museum of Southern Florida and the Museum
of Science. [“Boondoggle of Billions,” by Cynthia
Archbold, published Feb. 7.]
Peter Ehrlich
Miami
Thanks for the Great Journalism
Dear Rebecca Wakefield:
First, let me congratulate you on your article [Wakefield,
“Saint Without a Patron,” by
Rebecca Wakefield,
published Feb. 14]. I find no inaccuracies,
misquotes or evidence of personal bias. I believe
you have laid out the story accurately and pretty
completely within space constraints. If more
journalists could and would write like you did this
article, then newspapers might not be so distrusted
and in decline, as they are today. On behalf of St.
Alban’s Child Enrichment Center, I say thank you. We
hope this media attention leads to a rescue.
Bill Quesenberry
Coral Gables
Theaters Aren’t for Watching Movies
M. David Frost’s letter published in your Jan. 31 edition reminds
me of an ancient joke: Two women are sitting in a
theater when one nudges her friend and relays in
near-panic the information that “The man sitting
next to me is masturbating.”
“Just ignore him,” assures her companion.
“I can’t!” the exasperated woman moans. “He’s using my hand!”
Being one who must catch every word in a picture I’m seriously
interested in, and given the annoying habit of
replaying sections where I missed a minor detail,
I’m with Mr. Frost. At-home viewing is the only way
to go. Theaters have social utility, but they’re not
for viewing film.
Ben Wilson
Hollywood
Yes, I Am Real, Damn It!
[Re: Letters, “Very Funny Letter,” published Feb. 7.] Yes, I am
legit, despite your doubts, Marty Monroe of Bay
Harbor Islands, although I’m not so sure about the
Regal movie theater in
South Beach. I still haven’t received an apology
from the comedians there for the incompetence of the
insolent assistant manager.
What the manager did say in an e-mail was, “It’s unfortunate you
were unable to wait until I returned from my civil
duty serving on United States Jury Duty.” Mr. Big
Man was chiding me for not waiting respectfully
until he returned from his important affairs. Why
didn’t he ensure that, in his absence from his day
job, his assistant was checking his e-mail and not
only treating customers courteously but also taking
action over their complaints? No doubt this
under-manager is underpaid for working antisocial
hours, so maybe it’s a case of you pay peanuts, you
get monkeys.
While I was waiting for a reply to the three e-mails that I sent to
the Regal,
South
Beach, I attempted to contact the company’s
corporate office in Tennessee, but only reached a
computer. So, I tracked down the e-mail address of
the company’s senior vice president of marketing,
Dick Westerling.
This other very important person didn’t reply to me either, but he
did pass my message on to someone with the grand
title of “vice president operations southern
region,” who eventually responded saying, “The
specific complaints you had regarding the other
guests — the couple (man with alcohol on his
breath), the crying child and the woman using her
cell phone — are all items that could have and
should have been acted on by our usher staff (and
management once you brought these items to their
attention).”
But instead of acting, the manager on duty insulted me, suggesting
that maybe I’d like the whole movie theater to
myself. This is an example of the arrogance
displayed by all too many big corporations.
Customers who complain are a nuisance, preventing
them from concentrating on making money, so staff
ignore legitimate grievances, hoping that those
awkward people who would like to see a movie in
peace will stop bellyaching.
Regal’s vice president of southern region operations claimed that
“ushers walk through each auditorium several times
per show.” Well, I have yet to witness this. When I
was young, usherettes were terrifying ogres who
would have flashed a light in the eyes of anyone
indulging in the hanky-panky that I witnessed before
summarily ejecting them.
At the South
Beach theater, the most important staff duties
seemed to be outside the auditorium, increasing
profits by maximizing sales of popcorn and sodas. In
the event of a serious emergency, there could be a
terrifying uncontrolled stampede to escape rather
than a supervised orderly evacuation.
Regal is the biggest movie theater corporation in the world, no
doubt partly as a result of buying out local
companies. They think because they are the biggest
they must be the best, but the only reason I went to
the Regal was that they were the nearest.
In New York,
I lived close to a jewel of a movie theater, which
was better-run, cheaper and friendlier than Regal’s.
Yes, I found New Yorkers friendly! But then I never
went to a Regal cinema there.
M. David Frost
Miami Beach
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