There's A New Sheriff In Town (You)

You may have noticed that your movie-going experience has been marred as of late by viciously chatty kathies. Or, you may be one of those obnoxious folks who never learned to use your inside voice. Either way, yesterday marked the dawn of a new world: Seven Regal cinemas here in the city offered handheld devices to patrons so they could [silently rat out loud mouths]. With these pagers, you can conveniently alert management if someone is whispering audibly, using their phone or breaking other rules—like having sex, perhaps. The system has expanded to 114 theaters nationwide, and is already working wonders at one city location. Regal’s vice president of marketing and advertising, Dick Westerling, said they selected their tattle-tales from customers who’d signed up for the company’s loyalty program. The next best thing would be mandating a pre-screening politeness class and refusing admission to those who fail. Click [here](http://wcbstv.com/local/local_story_149181017.html) to see video footage of the gadgets, but be sure to turn your cell phone to vibrate while viewing.

Photo courtesy of [Andrew Mason on Flickr]