Talk about taking a pet peeve—or just general movie etiquette, depending on how you swing—to the next level. A Texas man is demanding a refund from his date after she allegedly continuously texted while they were watching Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 at the movies in Austin.
Brandon Vezmar has filed a petition in small claims court, seeking $17.31 in damages, which was about how much money he dished out to take his date to a 3-D showing of the movie May 6.
I get it. I truly do. There’s nothing quite so annoying as watching a movie, only to have someone blind you by turning on his or her ridiculously bright phone screen midmovie. Doubly so if the person is sitting right next to you. Triply so if it’s a movie you’re actually really excited about, and Guardians falls into that category for me, at least. But this ... this takes the cake.
But I digress. Back to the claim that is doing entirely the most.
Vezmar, who has a communications consulting company, met the woman online, according to the Austin American-Statesman, and arranged to meet for their first date at the movie. That’s when apparently all hell broke loose.
“It was kind of a first date from hell,” he said.
According to Vezmar, about 15 minutes into the movie, his date started texting on her phone.
“This is, like, one of my biggest pet peeves,” he added. In his claim, Vezmar said that the woman “activated her phone at least 10 to 20 times in 15 minutes to read and send text messages.”
Vezmar said that he asked her to stop, but she refused. He then told her that maybe she could go outside to text, at which point, ol’ girl left the theater and never came back.
It gets better.
The ill-fated couple had driven to the movies in the woman’s car. So she basically left Vezmar without a ride. He then texted her a few days later, asking her to reimburse him for the ticket, but she declined to pay.
The petition claims that texting is in “direct violation” of theater policy and that his date “adversely” affected Vezmar’s viewing experience, as well as that of other customers.
“While damages sought are modest, the principle is important as defendant’s behavior is a threat to civilized society,” the petition claimed.
This is just ... a lot.
The woman involved in the complaint, however, has a different story to tell, telling the Statesman that she only texted on her phone about two or three times.
“Oh my God,” she said. “This is crazy.
“I had my phone low and I wasn’t bothering anybody,” she said, adding that she was texting with a friend who was having a fight with her boyfriend. “It wasn’t like constant texting.”
She acknowledged that Vezmar had called her to ask her to pay him back, but she refused “because he took me out on a date.”
The woman, who declined to be identified, added that she planned to file a protective order against Vezmar for contacting her little sister to get the money over the movie ticket.