Making popcorn makes me happy?

[Frank Cox]

One of my regular customers called me last night to order a bag of this: http://melvilletheatre.com/partypopcorn.html

He said that he and his wife miss the theatre popcorn so they want the big bag to take home.

Well, okey dokey then.

I just finished making it, getting it bagged and cleaning the machine, and he'll be along in a few minutes to pick it up.

I told my wife that after all this time there's finally a bit of normal life here, making a few batches of popcorn and cleaning the machine. It seems a bit silly to say that making popcorn makes me happy, but I guess it does.

[Randy Stankey]

Your picture reminds me of that old Coke ad with David Letterman where he says, "Buy the BIG one! It's the better value!"

Yes, the routine of doing something that you know other people like is pretty rewarding.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Haven't you considered doing what e.g. Mike is doing, selling their concessions to the hungry Netflixers, while the zombies are still out there and you're not allowed to reopen for fear of zombie-infestation?

[Brad Miller]

How many of the big 32oz tubs can you fill from one "Santa bag" of popcorn?

[Frank Cox]

That's ten or eleven batches out of my machine, so I suppose there's about 30 or 40 of the 32oz tubs there. Never really tried to figure that out before. I just keep filling the bag until it looks full, then stop.

Of course, as with anything else "popcorn", the way it looks is 95% of selling it.

Selling stuff curbside just wouldn't be the same, and the weather here so far hasn't been conducive to outdoor stuff like that anyway. Rain, snow, wind.. Yesterday was actually fairly nice, but today the winds could blow you off your feet. Again.

[Mike Blakesley]

We've been really lucky weatherwise for the curbside. It's been nice most times. We had one weekend where there was a blizzard, and it definitely affected our sales a little, but not much. Small-town Montanans will pretty much go out in any kind of weather to get something they want, especially if it's something for their kids, and we've seen plenty of carloads of people with kids.

I have to agree with Frank on the popcorn-makes-me-happy thing. I don't even eat popcorn myself, and I didn't participate in making it during our curbside service -- mostly, I was running it out to the cars. But just being able to go to the theater and be in that space made me feel better about the whole thing.

There's still nothing like showing movies, though.... and we're gearing up to do that starting this coming Wednesday with a bunch of classics until new stuff starts coming out again.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Selling stuff curbside just wouldn't be the same, and the weather here so far hasn't been conducive to outdoor stuff like that anyway. Rain, snow, wind.. Yesterday was actually fairly nice, but today the winds could blow you off your feet. Again.

What about delivering it? If it works for restaurants, why wouldn't it work for stuff like popcorn and nachos too? Especially popcorn, something that gets hardly hurt by a little drive around town. Maybe you need to add a little service charge. I don't know if it would fly, I'm just writing down my thoughts.

We're currently not producing popcorn but sanitizing liquids and gels, which we drive around in the broader neighborhood. We're not really making any money with this, it's more like a community service. The first batches all went to hospitals, doctors, etc., now we're filling up the supplies of local businesses. I think that keeping yourself going is important to keep the mood up, despite the interesting times we're living in.

[Frank Cox]

20200518_155143.jpgHappiness abounds.

Someone else just ordered a bag, which I've just finished making and he'll be along to pick it up shortly.

So that's two in less than a week.

[Marcel Birgelen]

So, no popcorn delivery in Melville?

That bag is just a little bit too much for two to share.