Making A Movie Scene

(My stepfather has just died, eighteen months after a stroke. It has affected the whole family, especially my 11-year-old son. We go out to the cinema ten days after this happens, as an early Christmas treat. My son has been upset in the car.)

Employee: “What’s the problem?”

Son: “My granddad died. It’s so unfair!”

Employee: “Life’s unfair. Get used to it.”

Me: *angry* “How DARE you say that to a child?”

Employee: “He’s old enough not to cry in public. Besides, life isn’t a bowl of cherries. Time he stopped being a child.”

(My son is weeping by this point, not caring about making a scene. The manager comes up.)

Manager: “Is there a problem, sir?”

(I explain.)

Manager: “Well, was he in a nursing home?”

Me: “Yes, but I don’t see what that has—”

Manager: “Best that he died, really. Do you know how expensive it is keeping an old person alive in this economy? He won’t be a drain on resources.”

(Hands me my tickets.)

Me: “Are you so thick that you really think we’ll stay after what you both said? Give me my £12 back or I’m getting the police because I’m definitely not coming back.”

Manager: “No. You already paid. There’s nothing wrong with this cinema so there’s no need to refund you. See the movie or get out.”

(I only go in because my son has wanted to see this movie for a long time. He kept crying loudly throughout, so we were told 30 mins in that we had to leave because we were causing a scene. They refused to refund my money or the cinema card I purchased sometime prior. On top of all this, my son had to go there again two days before Christmas because his friend’s mother invited him for his friend’s birthday. We have not been back.)