Let's Not Meet~ Reddit Horror Stories

Drunk Theatre Creep

This happened in March of 2014. I had just turned 18 and had been working at my local movie theater for about 5 or 6 months. It wasn't a busy day by any means, and I was on register in the snack bar when this seemingly typical man approached with his popcorn, hotdog, pickle, and drink. The only thing I noticed immediately as strange was the fact that he was wearing sunglasses still, but even that didn't really set off any alarm bells. I rang him up and as I did so, he asked me if I was Hispanic. I was caught off guard by this question, as a red-haired, green-eyed white girl. I laughed a little bit and told him no, I wasn't Hispanic. He went on to tell me how I could pass for a Hispanic girl, his slur becoming evident. It wasn't until he started to lean over the counter that I became uncomfortable. He told me I had pretty eyes and I thanked him as he payed, trying to get through the transaction as quickly as possible.

Instead of heading to his movie, he took his food to the little island to my left, where we kept all of our condiments, napkins, and straws. This was pretty normal, as most patrons did stop by here to at least grab a straw and whatever else they needed before their movie started. This man, however, immediately opened and began eating his hot dog and casually munching on his popcorn. Something about him gave me a very bad feeling so I kept my eye on him for a ridiculous two hours before saying anything. I still regret waiting so long, but this was a slow weekday and we only had a single podium set up at the front with poles set up that funneled to it from the entrances so nobody was allowed into the lobby without a movie ticket. I watched him wander around the lobby, returning to the island periodically to eat his popcorn, and even had a couple of other guests ask me about him.

I'd finally had enough of him when I saw him approach my best friend, who was on podium at the time. I'm fiercely protective of this girl and have confronted men multiple times for being inappropriate with her. This man, however, scared me bad enough that I worried about confronting him directly. I went and found a manager and brought them up to speed on the situation. They approached him, and then disappeared into the office, returning with the MOD (manager on duty) of the day. I was too far away to hear any of the interaction from my register but eventually our off-duty police officer (who was our theater's security) had to get involved and they even had to call two more officers who were on duty because the man refused to leave and had become violent.

Anyway, they arrested the man and apparently they found four daggers as well as a throwing star in his pockets. When asked why he was carrying so many weapons, his response was "because I can't carry a gun." He was also very drunk. I'm not sure what became of him but aside from the time a man threatened to skin me alive, it was the scariest thing I've ever dealt with at work.

In hindsight, I should have reported him much sooner, but I did see his movie tickets (which were for three separate movies, come to find out) and I'm a suspicious person in general so I chalked it up to paranoia until he started messing with my friend. She said he legitimately scared the hell out of her though I can't really remember what he had said to her. It was a learning experience, to say the least.