I was sitting at work one day when the phone rang.  It was an acquaintance who called to give me his feedback on a movie screening that he had attended the previous night.  I was unable to attend the screening because I had a prior engagement, and since he noticed my absence he felt he should take it upon himself to share his thoughts regarding the film.

It took all of about 3 minutes before he blurts out this considerate nugget: “Oh, and I really liked the scene where so-and-so dies. I thought it was handled well.”  It’s important to note that my acquaintance did not use the term “so-and-so.”  Oh no.  I used “so-and-so” out of concern for any of you who might not want to suffer the same spoilage I did.  The less dignified person-who-I-refuse-to-call-a-friend actually used the actor’s name.  Nice, huh?

My mouth dropped, and I stared blankly at my computer monitor.  “Thank you, jerkface,” was the immediate reaction in my head, but I held my tongue and didn’t say anything.  He’s lucky we were on the phone.  Had he dropped a spoiler like that in person then the face-to-face encounter would have quickly turned into one of the foot-to-backside variety.

It reminds me of the time I invited six family members over to watch Nicole Kidman’s The Others. I was the only one who had seen it, and I was eager to see what everybody’s reaction would be when the big twist was revealed.  Before the movie started one particular family member (who, out of my sheer kindness will remain nameless) rudely exclaimed, “Is this the one where [SPOILER DELETED]?”

Yep, said family member just blurted out the spoiler for all to digest.

What is it with the person who just can’t seem to avoid revealing movie spoilers?  Shouldn’t most people know that it’s common courtesy to not talk about major plot elements in front of people who haven’t seen a particular movie?  Are some people missing a part of the brain that tells the majority of us that spoiling movies for others just isn’t a cool thing to do?

Come on, folks, use a little common sense, else I’ll be forced to use my size-11 biker boots in a way that won’t be to your benefit or comfort.

WHAT’S WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?!?!

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