ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A US cinema cleaner has amassed millions of viewers on TikTok by posting pictures of items that people commonly leave behind after watching a film.

Calling herself Cinema Chelsey, the cleaner claims to have picked up headphones, wallets, jewellery, gift cards and cash in the course of her work.

And she complains about those viewers who leave behind excess amounts of popcorn, sweets, snack packets or drink straws after a film viewing.

"It's free to clean up after yourself," she said. "We all should clean after ourselves at the movie theatre. It's the right thing to do."

Followers of the social media star were astounded when Chelsea lifted cinema seats to reveal mounds of popcorn, sweets, snack packets and straws beneath them. Her job involves removing the leftover debris from the theatre's seats before gathering the detritus into a pile and sweeping it up.

One person commented: "I'm sure I lose a piece of popcorn or two in the movies, but this is ridiculous." And another added: "I've never dropped more than five pieces of popcorn in one sitting. How are people leaving half a bucket?"

Chelsea, who describes her job as "infuriating, yet satisfying", says valuable items such as AirPods, wallets and jewellery are always logged. However, other items such as gift cards and cash are never claimed because people tend to be unaware that they have lost them. And one left-behind gift card had the sum of US$30 left on it, she claims.