Slashdot Mirror
So Did the Hordes Really Skip out for Episode 2?
gabec asks: "A few days ago Slashdot reported that thousands of people were going to call in sick so they could go check out the new Star Wars movie. Virtually the entirety of the computer services department at my university is taking the day off in unison to go see the show. I expect the whole school to implode that day. So my question is, how many Slashdot readers really did skip out of work for Star Wars Episode 2?" Those wacky geeks over at General Protection Fault probably said it the best. I think a high truancy rate was only to be expected. Funny thing to note: timothy and I went to see Spider-Man, yesterday and we were the only two people in that theatre. Three guesses where everyone else went, and the first two don't count.
timothy and I went to see Spider-Man, yesterday and we were the only two people in that theatre
Nice yo! Last time that happened to me and my girlfriend we had sex for the entire movie, and didn't even watch one bit of it.
and you and timothy do anything... oh wait a minute, nevermind.
Wouldn't this be better as a poll?
Did you miss work to see starwars
O Yes.
O No.
O Cowboy Neal went and told me what happened when he got back.
My vote is "No"
I would have skipped out of work to go see Episode II, but I had an important companywide meeting that I had to be at.
Of course, the companywide meeting just happened to located in the theater that was showing AotC, and lasted exactly the length of the movie.
"If English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for everyone else."
How can this hurt the economy? The largest pool of unemployed labor is out spending money!
Yes, I am a CS guy. Yes, I am unemployed. Yes, I spent $8.50 to see AOTC. Yes, I payed to much for refreshments.
My manager (a genuine SW fan) organized a trip to the theater to see SW:AotC on opening day. The company didn't pay for the tickets, but everyone was excited to:
a) see Star Wars before everyone else did (including their kids)
b) spend some time together where there was no pressure to perform
As an employee of a company that has seen 4-5 layoffs over the past year and a half, and a member of a group that recently completed a very stressful project, I can say this trip was the best thing anyone has done for my group's morale and general stress level in at least six months (and it didn't really cost the company anything). Of course, that probably means we should have been doing stuff like this all along.
Stephen
P.S. For those about to say that it cost the company 20 man hours for my group to go see this movie, just take it out of my 'overtime account'. There's about 500 unpaid hours in there already for this year.
Well, I tried...
:)
- called the boss saying I had to go to the doc
- got the Jedi outfit
- went to the movies looking like a retard
- tickets sold-out five guys in front of me in line.
- went back home and contenplated suicide
- girlfriend came over and felt kinda hot for the jedi outfit
happy happy end
But yes, I did go see SWEP2: AotC yesterday afternoon. Since I'm a consultant, I didn't have to "skip work" or call in sick to see the movie.
(My timing was off on Thursday -- the early-afternoon shows were sold out -- so I bought an advance ticket for 2:10pm Friday. The theater was only about 10% full.
My goal was to see the movie before school got out because the teens are often rude and obnoxious. As it turned out, there was a rude and obnoxious guy in the row behind me anyway (sitting by himself), making loud annoying comments. To his credit, he mostly made the rude comments during the incredibly-lame romantic-dialogue segments, but it was so annoying that about a third of the way through the movie, I got up and moved several rows away.
After seeing the movie, I am somewhat more inclined to agree with "The Case for the Empire."
-- http://www.MarkWelch.com/ Pleasanton California
You know, there's a happy medium somewhere. Just because some people are Star Wars nuts (and I mean that in the crazed maniac sense), doesn't mean that the complete opposite is good. Sure, you may not like fantasy, but fantasy movies can be a good thing. [i]Lord Of The Rings[/i] comes to mind, specifically because you can read the books, and then go "experience" the books via the movies.
--
I actually haven't seen Star Wars yet (I was busy getting a sun burn at the Giants game -- my boss told me to go). I'll probably see it eventually, but I think I'm going to wait until after the first two weeks...
Several months ago I told my boss I was going to be out of the office on May 16. I told him it was because I was going to see Star Wars. I have vacation days and I can use them for any reason I want.
By the way, skipping school does harm someone... yourself.
We can always watch this movie at night. There are lots of movie theatres featuring it here. Is there any reason why americans should watch it at day?
Sure. For starters, a lot of people are very anxious to see it.
Secondly (I'm assuming that you're not American by the tone of your post), most Americans work 40+ hours per week, even more if you're in IT. Compared to the worldwide averages we work longer hours, so every once in awhile we feel obliged to blow off some steam by blowing off some work.
Thirdly, I saw it during the afternoon and got matinee pricing of $7.50. It's considerably more expensive than that to see it in the evening.
Now we know why so many companies go out of business.
What kind of drugs are you on? So they dropped $1000-$1500 on a movie so that their company could take a Friday afternoon off. How does that contribute to the dot-com collapse? The cost is minimal and the morale boost is tangible. If you consider the kinds of hours that most IT people work (while still being paid a salary based on 40 hours), only an idiot would say that they aren't entitled to some fun time occasionally.
How many companies have "summer hours"? I've worked for several companies that let you leave at 2:00 on Fridays during the summer. At others you have to work a couple extra hours during the week to make up for it, but it's no big deal.
At most companies that I have seen, Friday afternoons are the least productive hours of the work week anyway. A manager with a clue would probably rather channel that lack of productivity into a morale-boosting event.
It's important to do something nice for your employees every once in awhile. It's not like they're even doing that though since a Star Wars release only comes along once every few years.
I've worked at companies that spend that much money on a weeks worth of catered lunches for executive meetings. I worked at a company that spent several times that much each month to rent an auditorium for our monthly company-wide meetings.
If a company of 130 had $1000-$1500 to spend to boost company morale, I could think of far worse ways to spend it than renting out a theatre to see Star Wars. Logo'd Stress Balls or "cool" company keychains, for example. T-shirts with company mottos on them. New mouse pads for everyone. Catered box lunches for the whole gang. Special "you are a valuable member of our team" award plaques or some similar hokey bullshit. Who wants that shit when your company could rent out a theatre for a private screening of Star Wars? Duh!
Look, I have read every CS/math book I could lay my hands on. I have been coding since I was 13, and missed all my highschool home-comings while coding (I didn't miss my prom.) I am also a 3rd year college student, majoring in math.
I have never seen a single star wars movie, never watch an anime, not even a comic book. I hate computer games (specially multi-player games) but I don't mind trying some galaga while I am waiting for my pizza at pizza hut.
You know, if you're not careful you're going to end up dead from a distinct lack of having a life. I too enjoy reading and playing with machines, but there is a time when getting out and doing something with friends (even something passive like watching a movie) is a good thing. There is far more in the world than that which is simply technical and if you fail to experience it when you are young then you will grow up to be a bitter and remorseful old man.
Funny, yes. Unrealistic, no. I remember seeing a demonstration by a competing team's fencing coach/master a long time ago. This guy was one of the best in the world in his prime, but well into his elder years spent most of his time just teaching and walking around with the assistance of a cane.
However, put a blade in this old guy's hand, and he was suddenly transformed from a decrepit-looking fragile elderly person into a graceful, dangerous foe. I saw him whip one of his own students who was at the time representing the US in the World University Games. After the bout, he picked up his cane and limped back to the sidelines.
"No, no, no. Don't tug on that. You never know what it might be attached to."