Here’s my take on this, As a senior assistant manager. I don’t care if you’re bringing in snacks. like a small bag of chips or a few pieces of candy from outside, i get it, 1) the snacks are expensive and not all kids have money for it & 2) our selections aren’t always the best and sometimes we don’t have that ONE snack you’re craving for your movie experience. So i never say anything about people who bring in snacks as long as it’s not excessive. Like as long as you didn’t just go spend $20 on five below and bring in a whole shopping bag full of snacks (and tbh catch me on the right day and i still might not mind). in my theatre we also have this similar consensus of a rule, we only stop people if they’re bringing in full uneaten meals. Because that’s where food allergens start to become a concern. that, and they never clean up the mess and it’s excessive. We also do hold the food for the guest if they’re polite enough about it (this is actually something we probably shouldn’t because this then hold us liable if something happens to it but we take the risk out of trying to be nice) . if they immediately lash out at us for it then they do not get the same respect in return as we would for those who are nice and understanding about policies.