Can't Even Enjoy A Movie...

ElQueso

Registered
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
2,710
Likes
3,067
I'm sure we've all been held up by protestors here and there over the years here, blocking intersections and such, causing nuisances and in some cases real problems.

Myself, I've been caught in enough while driving in the city, for sure. I've also been lucky enough to get caught in the farmers' protests a few years ago (2010?) while driving back from Asuncion and delayed a number of hours as big farm trucks blocked off the only highway that runs from the far north to BA without going through Entre Rios (a much farther trip) on the way back.

Tonight was a new one for me.

We went to the Village cinemas late this afternoon while we were out walking around and doing some shopping, in order to buy some tickets for a movie this evening. It was about 5:30 that we bought the tickets, for a 7:40 movie. After bought the tickets, we mosied on over to the Hard Rock for a bit to eat while we waited. Of course, while there, we missed the lunch and dinner crowd and were looking forward to a relatively quiet (for the Hard Rock, anyway) meal, when the live entertainment came on to the stage and began setting up and adjusting their sound equipment for the show at around 9:00. I was a bit frustrated because after about half an hour of tuning and testing, they played a set and it was pretty bad. Guitar did alright on rhythm but sucked at solos, the singer shouted but didn't have a very good voice and the songs were music from old favorites with new words (like ZZ Tops' Tush! Ah, they ruined it!)

I was glad to get out of there. We walked up to the Village Shopping center and were surprised to find a drummer and flag corp group going at it in the lobby where you buy tickets, on the ground floor. Quite obnoxious. We were still a bit early, so we went upstairs and did a little window shopping. I was actually getting a little concerned because even on the third floor, away from the middle where they were centered below, inside a store, we could still hear them quite loudly. I figured we might have a problem hearing the movie, even in the sound-proofed theaters, they were so loud!

Well, sure enough, we try to go down to the ground floor level and find that the last set of escalators have been changed from going down, to going up, so no one would be able to get down to the lobby (didn't realize why they'd changed it at that moment). So we went outside and walked around to the front, where there is now a crowd of people standing in front, apparently watching the demonstrators (as we now realized they were). There is a barricade and they aren't letting anyone enter.

So the demonstrators occupied the lobby, caused so much noise and chaos that the movie theaters closed down for the night. I had to push through the crowd to get to the front and talk the security guard into letting me pass so I could at least get a refund.

There were a lot of pissed off people there.

Welcome to Buenos Aires.

I never will understand what demonstrators who do things like this think they are accomplishing. I didn't even bother to find out what they were protesting because the whole scene ticked me off so much. It's like when I got held up for hours trying to come back from Asuncion in 2010. The protestors end up pissing off the very people who I would think they would want behind them in support, but who wants to support a bunch of idiots who have no regard for anyone else? They don't seem to get listened to, they just cause problems.
 
I'm sure we've all been held up by protestors here and there over the years here, blocking intersections and such, causing nuisances and in some cases real problems.

Myself, I've been caught in enough while driving in the city, for sure. I've also been lucky enough to get caught in the farmers' protests a few years ago (2010?) while driving back from Asuncion and delayed a number of hours as big farm trucks blocked off the only highway that runs from the far north to BA without going through Entre Rios (a much farther trip) on the way back.

Tonight was a new one for me.

We went to the Village cinemas late this afternoon while we were out walking around and doing some shopping, in order to buy some tickets for a movie this evening. It was about 5:30 that we bought the tickets, for a 7:40 movie. After bought the tickets, we mosied on over to the Hard Rock for a bit to eat while we waited. Of course, while there, we missed the lunch and dinner crowd and were looking forward to a relatively quiet (for the Hard Rock, anyway) meal, when the live entertainment came on to the stage and began setting up and adjusting their sound equipment for the show at around 9:00. I was a bit frustrated because after about half an hour of tuning and testing, they played a set and it was pretty bad. Guitar did alright on rhythm but sucked at solos, the singer shouted but didn't have a very good voice and the songs were music from old favorites with new words (like ZZ Tops' Tush! Ah, they ruined it!)

I was glad to get out of there. We walked up to the Village Shopping center and were surprised to find a drummer and flag corp group going at it in the lobby where you buy tickets, on the ground floor. Quite obnoxious. We were still a bit early, so we went upstairs and did a little window shopping. I was actually getting a little concerned because even on the third floor, away from the middle where they were centered below, inside a store, we could still hear them quite loudly. I figured we might have a problem hearing the movie, even in the sound-proofed theaters, they were so loud!

Well, sure enough, we try to go down to the ground floor level and find that the last set of escalators have been changed from going down, to going up, so no one would be able to get down to the lobby (didn't realize why they'd changed it at that moment). So we went outside and walked around to the front, where there is now a crowd of people standing in front, apparently watching the demonstrators (as we now realized they were). There is a barricade and they aren't letting anyone enter.

So the demonstrators occupied the lobby, caused so much noise and chaos that the movie theaters closed down for the night. I had to push through the crowd to get to the front and talk the security guard into letting me pass so I could at least get a refund.

There were a lot of pissed off people there.

Welcome to Buenos Aires.

I never will understand what demonstrators who do things like this think they are accomplishing. I didn't even bother to find out what they were protesting because the whole scene ticked me off so much. It's like when I got held up for hours trying to come back from Asuncion in 2010. The protestors end up pissing off the very people who I would think they would want behind them in support, but who wants to support a bunch of idiots who have no regard for anyone else? They don't seem to get listened to, they just cause problems.

Getting your point across is not the point. Disruption is the point.
 
This is one of the very reasons why I have decided to leave Argentina. This kind of behavior is SO counterproductive and is so ingrained in 90% of the Argentine's psyche and I can't imagine it will change during my lifetime as Peronism and it's followers strongly believe that constant protesting is a way of resolving conflicts. Many also believe there is some divine inscription written somewhere that if someone employs you they owe you forever. They don't realize that a job is not a right, it's nothing more than a fee for service relationship. While worker protections are a nice thing, here they are over the top and only create conflict before the relationship even starts. Here a full time employee is called "relación de dependencia" (dependent relationship).
In New York City I worked in a bank for years and at it's peak our mortgage origination department and all of its functions had 6,000 employees spread across 7 offices in the US. When the mortgage business started its downfall in 2006, people were let go almost daily, yes, there were plenty of tears shed, however I don't remember a single protest, people went home, filed for their unemployment benefits (which in New York City are a pittance, the maximum is $400 USD per week), and most of my colleagues were making 6 figure salaries plus commissions and bonuses. At that time jobs were hard to come by, some people were without jobs for 6 - 8 months and when they did finally find employment, they were making a fraction of what they previously earned. Again, no protests, and nobody got paid indemnizations, the company gave some people as a gesture 1 month salary, but only to some people maybe 10% of the employees...some people had to sell their houses, move to less expensive places, sell cars, take kids out of private school, etc, again no protests, no blocked streets, no riots, etc. People were too busy looking for jobs, going back to school, retraining and moving forward.....when I finally left the company I was one of the last 75 employees, it was sad, but what did I do?? I came to Buenos Aires and started over, I had a job within 2 weeks of my arrival, owned a business for a couple of years, have been self-employed for the last few, and I never have attended a protest. Unfortunately, while this mentality exists, this country is damned and/or doomed. This country claims to be a peaceful country, it is to the outside world, but internally it's not.
 
Welcome to Buenos Aires. That's the exact words I uttered to my newcomer friend this same evening when we passed and saw the commotion.
Yesterday I walked down vicente lopez in a rush and heard the drums and saw some flags and since it was inside the mall and everyone was acting normal I thought it was a marketing ploy!!! I really did!!!

Thanks for providing some insight... They are from SUTERH I believe, but does that make any difference?

After that sight we went to a parrilla that advertised (leaflet) as no cubierto. So good! We'll share something and not drink, and we'll dine for a song!
Well, I'm not gonna recount the experience now, but if I'll just leave you with a general warning:
If you are speaking in English in a public place, even in Recoleta, even when neither party is American OR part of British Commonwealth, just using it as a lingua franca, be prepared to pay up! and up! and up! English speaker on a budget? Es un insulto!

So we got to see both sides of a the heavy yet worthless Argentine coin.
 
This is the sort of stuff I don't miss.

As much as people on the fake left (i.e. FpV & Co) and the Parásitos (Peronismos, same difference) in Argentina like to say they're all about nosotros it's really a good example of how they're all about yo. It's the mentality of "If I can't have it then no one else will". These people often don't care about anyone but themselves, causing the rest of the populace to be late, change their schedule, prevent people from working, stop others from enjoying life, etc. and guess what? The average person isn't going to say "Hey, I support your cause!" they're going to say "Screw these people, they're inconsiderate asses".

I believe in a right to protest and or strike over real/perceived grievances, but if I worked at Coto and was striking I'm not going to stand in front of Banco Piano and block people from getting in just because they're on the same street or block 25 de Mayo, its rude and inconsiderate, it's also ridiculous yet Argentine, two things that often seem to go hand in hand...
 
My grandma used to say that in Japan the way to protest was to work even harder to shame your employer into considering your effort. I don't know if it's true but I can see her point.
 
I'm sure we've all been held up by protestors here and there over the years here, blocking intersections and such, causing nuisances and in some cases real problems...[snip]

Tonight was a new one for me.

We went to the Village cinemas late this afternoon while we were out walking around and doing some shopping, in order to buy some tickets for a movie this evening. It was about 5:30 that we bought the tickets, for a 7:40 movie. After bought the tickets, we mosied on over to the Hard Rock for a bit to eat while we waited...[snip]

I was glad to get out of there. We walked up to the Village Shopping center and were surprised to find a drummer and flag corp group going at it in the lobby where you buy tickets, on the ground floor. Quite obnoxious. We were still a bit early, so we went upstairs and did a little window shopping. I was actually getting a little concerned because even on the third floor, away from the middle where they were centered below, inside a store, we could still hear them quite loudly. I figured we might have a problem hearing the movie, even in the sound-proofed theaters, they were so loud!

Well, sure enough, we try to go down to the ground floor level and find that the last set of escalators have been changed from going down, to going up, so no one would be able to get down to the lobby (didn't realize why they'd changed it at that moment). So we went outside and walked around to the front, where there is now a crowd of people standing in front, apparently watching the demonstrators (as we now realized they were). There is a barricade and they aren't letting anyone enter.

So the demonstrators occupied the lobby, caused so much noise and chaos that the movie theaters closed down for the night. I had to push through the crowd to get to the front and talk the security guard into letting me pass so I could at least get a refund...

Pepper Spray from a floor above and the movie starts on time.

Did you just get here?

Actually, that's a rhetorical question, because you already mentioned that you were (A) Going to a movie at the Village (without specifying "Recoleta Village") and (B ) Went to eat dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe.

Spray the Mo'Fo's and go see your movie.
 
It's a very latin way to demonstrate. What sucks is that it's often the same kind of people blocking others, at least in France (truck drivers blocking roads, pilots/trains going on strike when it's vacation time, etc.).
We never see retired people blocking roads to ask for better pensions for instance.

Seems they were on strike asking for a new collective agreement.
http://www.larazon.com.ar/ciudad/Anuncian-paros-sorpresivos-cines-shopping_0_595200107.html
 
I always heard that the protestors receive A$100, a chorizo sausage and a beer for protesting. Sign me up!
 
My grandma used to say that in Japan the way to protest was to work even harder to shame your employer into considering your effort. I don't know if it's true but I can see her point.
we should wait for hybrid ambassador to reply but i think it´s a myth.
 
Back
Top