“Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” has just come out in theaters, and our venue is PACKED. There are a lot of little kiddies dressed up as Spider-Man or other comic book heroes coming to the screenings, and they’re all adorable.
A mother comes up with two little boys dressed up as Spider-Man. They’re so excited they’re practically jumping up and down. I scan her tickets, and I get a little red beep. I scan again, and the same thing.
Me: “Hmm… Can I get a closer look at your tickets?”
Mom: “Is something wrong?”
Me: “I hope not! Let’s see.”
Straight away, I can tell this woman has made a mistake booking her tickets. She’s booked online at our location with a similar name but in an entirely different state. I explain this to her, and her face goes pale.
Mom: “Do… do you have any replacement tickets I could buy?”
She said, “Buy”. She wants to pay for her mistake, not make us do it.
Me: “I’m afraid we’re mostly sold out for the rest of the day. We don’t have any seats left until later this evening.”
Mom: “I need to get them back before then. We drove into the city to be here today, so…”
We both look at the two boys, both blissfully oblivious to our discussion.
Mom: “I can’t believe I did that! They’re going to be soooo upset.”
Me: “Let me see if there’s anything I can do.”
I radio my manager and tell him what’s happened. Our theater will sometimes keep some seats empty, even in a sold-out theater. Sometimes this is for seats that are easier to access for disabled moviegoers, such as seats near the front. Apparently, we do have plenty of those seats left! I explain this to the mom.
Me: “If you don’t mind being in the front row, we can put you there.”
Mom: “Are you kidding?! Anything is better than my boys having their favorite superhero snatched away from them by their stupid mom’s mistake.”
Me: “Please stop being so hard on yourself! It’s an easy mistake to make! Let me get you settled with your new tickets.”
I escorted them to a ticket machine and got the replacement tickets printed for them. I also swung some popcorn for the boys with Spider-Man-themed packaging that they gushed, “Wow!” and, “Cool!” over.
After the movie, the mom and her boys found me again, and the mom was almost in tears. She thanked me again and explained that the boys came into the city to visit their dad who was in a long-term hospital situation, and this excursion was badly needed for them.
I was happy to try to be a hero that day, even if it wasn’t Spider-Man!