A strange and terrible weekend

[darclauz]

So...is this then 'Mormon Porn'?


morn?

pormon?

[OnyxCougar]

Originally posted by lumberjim

Wait a minute. I thought you were an ex-english. what gives? are there english mormons? or did you just dally in it? mormon by marriage? married to the mormon. was that a movie? were you captured and forced to convert, then later rescued by a gang of good-guy Vigilantes? Or was that an episode of the A-team?

oh, and is Mormonic a word?

I'm not ex-english. I'm still English. Yes, there are Brit Mormons, and Croatian mormons, and Russian mormons. And a bunch of other nationality-d mormons. Kelle was mormon, and she talked me into going, Mormonism was one of the Christian faiths I hadn't explored yet. I was baptised a few months later, THEN they told me all the other stuff that they hadn't told me before. Like about the Sacred Underwear and that you couldn't have non-Mormon's at your sealings.

Then I found some stuff online that they couldn't explain to my satisfaction, so I left.

So yeah, I'm not a mormon any more. Well, I guess technically, since I was baptised, I am a Mormon, just not a practicing one.

[vsp]

Originally posted by OnyxCougar
So yeah, I'm not a mormon any more. Well, I guess technically, since I was baptised, I am a Mormon, just not a practicing one.

Well, if you're not going to practice, how do you expect to get better at it?

[Happy Monkey]

My brother just returned from a trip to Honduras. Apparently the Mormon missionaries there build state-of-the-art sports centers, and then tell the kids they can't use them unless they convert.

Mormons: the original Scientologists.

OK, maybe not original, but definitely ancestors.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally posted by Happy Monkey
My brother just returned from a trip to Honduras. Apparently the Mormon missionaries there build state-of-the-art sports centers, and then tell the kids they can't use them unless they convert.

My god, that's just plain sick.

[elSicomoro]

I lived around a bunch of Mormons growing up...they were mostly medical students and their families from out West (Utah and Washington State, IIRC). Nice folks for the most part.

Having said that, they may be the most cult-like of the Christian religions...

Wolf, was it you that was telling me about the Hawaiian cultural center and its Mormon connection?

You would think that customer service would have improved over the past 3 years due to people trying to hang on to their jobs. It has, but not by much. Profit over customer service, it would seem...

[elSicomoro]

Oh, Alan...my condolences regarding your aunt.

[wolf]

Originally posted by sycamore
IWolf, was it you that was telling me about the Hawaiian cultural center and its Mormon connection?

Yes, it was.

To recap for everybody else ... a friend of mine travelled to Hawaii, and came back telling exciting tales of a "Hawaiian and Polynesian Cultural Center" that she and her daughters had been to. In addition to showing me their own photographs of the place, she had the brochure. I flipped through to the back and saw the LDS info, and replied "Oh, so you went to a museum which shows element of the traditional culture that the Mormons are working so hard to eradicate?"

She had noticed the Mormon stuff, but never really made the connection. She's a good hearted woman, but not all that swift on the uptake. She was once astonished to find that before Jesus, pretty much everyone was pagan. Blew her mind.

Anyway ... here's an article on the Hawaiian Mormons:

http://www.mrm.org/multimedia/text/oahu.html

And here's what they have to say about themselves:

http://w3.byuh.edu/devotionals/media...924britsch.htm

[hot_pastrami]

Well, someone from Cinemark got the letter, and e-mailed me this last Friday (Jan 11, 2004):

Dear Mr. Bellows,

I have received your written letter concerning your visit to the Cinemark Theatre in the Provo Towne Center on 12/20/03. First, let me apologize that the incident even happened. You have detailed the events out in which I totally understand your position and the unpleasant experience you had that night. Obviously this was not our goal and was a concern of mine after reading your letter.

I have spoken with Troy Taylor about the incident as well and he is just as uncomfortable with the details. He feels really regrettable that the whole incident happened and especially the exchange in the auditorium. When speaking with him on the matter, I could tell that he was still trying to understand how it got to this point. Troy has been with Cinemark for 11 years and has managed many of our complexes with sound results. I feel he is capable of handling customer issues but it may be that in this case and the events of that night, there could have been a clearer way to handle the situation. I know that, when we have lines of people waiting for hours for a movie like this, if we don't have a solid crowd control process in place, those people who have been waiting start to question "why do they/she/he get to get in the front of the line". Troy may have been trying to do so and really didn’t understand your position with this even though you had mentioned to him that your wife and friends were already in line as you were earlier. I think Troy is wanting to convey his apologizes to you as well and should follow-up with a response.

At any rate, I'm sorry this took place. It appears you attend movies on a regular basis at this theatre. My hope is that, something like this hasn't happened to you in the past and will not happen in the future.

Kindest regards,

Kim D. Phillips
Rocky Mountain Region Leader

Hmm, I did ask specifically for a phone call, and not an e-mail, but we'll see how/if Troy decides to contact me. Two weeks isn't too bad a response time, either. What I suspect is that old Troy-Boy will e-mail a nice, sincere non-apology ("I regret that you misunderstood me," or "I'm sorry if you didn't understand.") We'll see.

[OnyxCougar]

Hmm. I'm not sure I'd be satisfied with this, I think a set of 2 movie passes is in order. But it doesn't look like you'll be getting that.

Question is: even if Troy emails/calls/whatever you with an apology, will that be enough for you? Will you return to this theatre?

[lumberjim]

you see, here's the problem:

He feels really regrettable

this person is Troy's boss.

[hot_pastrami]

Originally posted by OnyxCougar
Hmm. I'm not sure I'd be satisfied with this, I think a set of 2 movie passes is in order. But it doesn't look like you'll be getting that.

Question is: even if Troy emails/calls/whatever you with an apology, will that be enough for you? Will you return to this theatre?

Well, my primary motivation was for Troy's superiors to be aware of his shameful behavior, and I did get that. I also wanted to be a part of the mechanism of Karma, to teach our dear Mr. Taylor that being an ass has consequences. Like I said in the letter, I wasn't looking for movie passes, but a personal apology, by phone, from each individual.

I think I'll wait to reserve judgement until I hear what Troy has to say (assuming he ever does contact me). If he offers a half-hearted bullshit apology, I'll reply to the regional manager saying "Nice effort, but this failure to follow through on my request once again demonstrates your company's lack of customer service." If he seems to really feel "regrettable" (cough), then I'll probably resume my business there.

It's the nicest theater in town by a good margin, so I'd like to take my business back there, but I have to follow my principles, damnit.

[hot_pastrami]

I just got this e-mail:

Mr. Bellows:

Let me apologize for the incident that occured on 2/20/03. As Mr. Phillips stated it was a regrettable experience and I felt as such immediately afterwards.

I shouldn't have walked up in the middle of the conversation between you and my ushers because I obviously didn't know what exactly was going on. I didn't expect the exchange to get as out of control as it did and it threw me off.

I understand that you have attended here often and if you would like to reply with your address I can send you some passes for you, your wife and the other couple you were with so we can have another chance to offer a better movie-going experience.

Again, I'm sorry the situation occured and hope you have a better movie-going experience on future visits.

Sincerely,
Troy Taylor
General Manager

Pretty lame. "I'm sorry the situation occured" is a far cry from taking responsibility. At no point does he actually admit to any substantial fault, it's just fluffy bullshit. I was thinking I'd follow up with Region Leader, Mr. Phillips, and say that while I appreciate the response, it falls quite short of my original, simple request of a personal apology. What do you guys think?

[lumberjim]

let him up

[OnyxCougar]

well, he DID say:

I shouldn't have walked up in the middle of the conversation between you and my ushers because I obviously didn't know what exactly was going on.

That sounds like an admission to me.