POPCORN (standard:humor, 2415 words)
Author: netnut	Added: Feb 13 2001	Views/Reads: 3410/2037	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Nothing ever changed.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

the moral of everybody, what little there was left that is. By the time 
Bennett got back we would either have made it or not time would tell. 
Steve arrived at five am on Friday morning only six hours after having 
left the night before and only six hours till guests arrived for the 
preview showing of "Howards end." That would be followed by speeches a 
quick drink in the foyer and then open to the public. Steve looked at 
the list. "Still a bit to do, but I think were gonna make it" "Why is 
that bloody popcorn machine still in its bloody crate!!?? Steve 
recognized the voice immediately Bennett was back. "The guy is coming 
to plug it in this morning  boss it'll only take half an hour." "Well 
the rest of the place needs a bloody good clean up there's dust 
everywhere and the lights arnt working in the toilets!" Steve just 
nodded. "I'll be back at eleven for the movie this place better be 
ready!" Bennett said as he strode out the door. "Fiji couldn’t have 
been too bad." Steve thought to himself. Sub contractors started to 
arrive Steve went over each ones duties for the morning with them it 
looked good, everyone who was meant to be here was here and so far no 
disasters. Steve looked at the large crate just inside the door "shit 
wheres that bloody grease ball who's installing the popcorn machine?" 
He headed towards the office to find his phone number just as the 
greaseball pulled up in his van. "G'day mate ready for me to put that 
machine in now?" "Sure am buddy. How long?" "Oh shouldn’t be more than 
an hour all done." "Goodo." Said Steve as he continued to the office 
for caffeine and nicotine. It was nine am when Steve got back into the 
main building; the phone had gone non-stop for an hour and a half. Two 
hours till they started to arrive and he had to get home and change 
before that, tee-shirt and shorts wasn't going to be acceptable for a 
premier. The place was looking good staff were being trained in the 
intricacies of the till and coffee machine the carpenters were easing 
the doors and the plumber was just making the final adjustments to the 
automatic flusher in the ladies toilet. "Thank god for that" Steve 
thought as he looked towards the food bar where the grease ball was 
sitting reading a newspaper. "You got that machine working yet?" "It's 
just warming up, according to the instructions it takes an hour to 
reach the right temperature then its ready to go." "Tell me you haven't 
forgotten to get some popcorn to put in it, " said Steve half joking 
half hopeful. "No they sent a carton of it with the machine you just 
tip it in the top when this light comes on and it does its thing.' "Oh 
right" nodded Steve just as the little red light the grease ball was 
pointing too flickered to life. "Here we go." The greaseball tipped the 
carton of unpopped popcorn into the opening in the top of the machine, 
nothing happened. "It'll take a couple of minutes." Popcorn started to 
pop. "Well that’s away" said the greasy one "And so am I. I've got 
another job on in Panmure" "Ok" said Steve "and thanks" Steve wandered 
off to the toilets to check on the plumber while the greaseball left 
with his bag of tools. "How's it going in here Nick?" "Yeah pretty good 
Steve all done." Steve was starting to relax. It looked like everything 
was going to be alright. Sure the Architects would have a snag list a 
mile long and Steve just knew that they would have to change a few 
colours around yet but that could all wait until next week the cinemas 
would open on time. He headed back to the main foyer following the 
smell of freshly popped popcorn that had searched him out in the 
women's toilet. As he entered the foyer he could tell by the group of 
people around the popcorn machine that something was wrong. Everyone 
was either waving their arms or grabbing another bag of popcorn as it 
spewed from the machine. "How the hell do you turn this bloody thing 
off?" said the sparky. "Christ you’re the electrician." Said Steve as 
he ran to the food counter. "I've unplugged the bloody thing Steve, but 
the element stays hot for some time and its still popping the corn." 
Was the sparky's reply as he reached for another bag to hold under the 
popcorn machines dispensing orifice. Steve looked at the empty carton 
that the grease ball had tipped in the machine. "This carton contains 
enough kernels for 100 machine fills please use four scoops per fill" 
"SHIT" thought Steve. The machine moved into second gear. Popcorn was 
spreading across the floor of the foyer like tsunami. "This cant be 
happening," thought Steve. He glanced at his watch. It was ten am only 
an hour till the onslaught. "Grab the other side!" shouted Steve "We'll 
carry it into the staff toilets." They did just that and closed the 
door behind them. "That will have to do, the staff can use the main 
toilets for today and we can clean up the mess in there later." Steve 
looked at the floor of the foyer covered in popcorn "Right every one 
get a rubbish bag or broom and start sweeping." It didn’t take too long 
with fifteen minutes to spare all of the popcorn had been swept into 
rubbish bags and taken out the back. Steve had put a "do not use" sign 
on the staff toilets and his heart rate had slowed. He rushed home 
showered, changed and got back to the cinemas in record time eleven 
fifteen and the place was bursting at the seams. As he walked into the 
main foyer he was greeted by the cinema owners and old man Bennett, who 
had a look on his face like hell. Bennett pulled him aside. "Where the 
bloody hell is the popcorn machine." "It's a long story boss but it 
will be working later" Bennett was not going to let it rest there but 
the GM from Cinemas International took him by the arm and led him away 
to the main Foyer. "Thank you god" thought Steve. People started to 
file into the theaters for the "Howard's End" premier. Steve couldn’t 
face it. He went instead to the food counter and looked at the space 
were the machine should be. A couple of handfuls of squashed and foot 
trampled popcorn was the only evidence that there had ever been a 
problem. Steve reached down and swept the last remaining and dirty 
popcorn into one of the cardboard popcorn containers. He put it on the 
shelf and went out side for a smoke. He decided that he really didn’t 
want to see Howard's End or the inside of those cinemas again today and 
went back to the unusual peace of his site office and drank coffee. 
About an hour or two later one of the staff members from the cinemas 
stuck his head around the corner of the door " Hey speeches' are about 
to start you better get in there" Steve wandered back into the complex, 
he went into the main theater and sat at the back as the Architect was 
being congratulated for designing such an outstanding building." Old 
man Bennett was next "tremendous workmanship, outstanding achievement 
against all odds" was the basic theme, Bennett beamed as the GM 
presented him with a life time gold card for any International Cinema 
Film. "Typical " thought Steve. Oh there was the usual " I couldn’t 
have done it without the support of my dedicated staff speech" but no 
names mentioned.  Steve hadn't expected anything more. He headed back 
to the foyer before the applause stopped to get one of the 
complimentary drinks before the crowd arrived back in. As he sipped the 
cheap wine he felt a hand on his shoulder he turned around it was 
Bennett. "Now tell me about that bloody popcorn machine." He barked. 
Steve looked up at the shelf where he had left the carton of evidence 
"Would you like some?" Bennett snatched the carton from Steve "So you 
did get it working " Bennett pushed himself away through the now dense 
crowd towards a group of well-dressed types in the center of the room. 
Steve watched as the GM, architect and Bennett took a mouthful each. As 
soon as it hit their taste buds they could tell something was wrong all 
three of them headed for the nearest toilet to spit it out. In their 
panic to get the popcorn out of their mouths and what with having to 
fight their way through the crowds they never saw the "do not use " 
sign on the door. "Time to go home" thought Steve. 


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