Not all of us have the time to see the latest Marvel movie or episode of an HBO show the minute it comes out. These shows are a commitment: “Game of Thrones ” episodes this final season are each expected to be around an hour or longer , and the three-hour runtime of “Avengers: Endgame ” has even sparked guides on the best time to take a bathroom break during the film.
Working professionals who are also super fans have to get creative if they want to avoid spoilers during their 9-to-5 jobs before they have a chance to watch. Below, seven people share their stories of how they effectively blocked spoilers at work:
Banish coworkers to coffee shops
“I specifically told my coworker I wasn’t going to see ‘Avengers’ till Thursday, so when he and a coworker wanted to talk about it, they had to leave the building and walk across our work campus to the Starbucks to discuss.
When another coworker asked about the movie, I stood up and said they couldn’t discuss. She said she just wanted to know if it was good, not any details. I told her I don’t even want to hear that info.” Chris Avis
Make homemade spoiler blockers for Twitter
“Since I work in morning news radio, Twitter is an essential part of my job but it’s always littered with spoilers. On the Monday morning after the Battle of Winterfell , the entire Trending sidebar was a minefield. As soon as I saw the name ‘Arya’ pop up I tried to look away, but it’s just so tempting. Was she hurt? Did she die? What happened? Thankfully, I keep a pad of large sticky notes next to my computer. I grabbed a couple of those and stuck them on my screen over the Trending sidebar until I couldn’t see anything underneath and voila! Spoilers, be gone.
Luckily, many of the people I work with know the struggles of morning radio, so I don’t have to worry about spoilers being shouted in the hallways. Even if I did, there’s lots of soundproof booths to retreat to.” Shelby Knox
Stay up super late before work
Wake up super early before work
“My brother went to sleep at 6 p.m. so he could wake up at midnight and watch the movie at 1:45 a.m. The movie ended around 5 a.m., and then he went to have a real breakfast before work at 6:30 a.m. He went with our older brother, who finished his shift at 1 a.m. so they could go together. I don’t think I’ve ever seen much dedication from them before.” Mira Hernandez
“In Zambia ... you have to literally wake up at 3 in the morning to watch [‘Game of Thrones’] and then go back to bed, then wake up for work.” Situnjwani Kacholola Sokoni
Block out the spoilers with your voice
Install a satellite dish to watch on east coast time
“I moved from the east coast [to Los Angeles] years ago, but that meant that every post on my Facebook , Twitter, and even text message threads was coming from a world that was three hours ahead. I had to go into extreme social media blackout mode — just completely turn off all my connected devices — because everyone knew I was such a big fan that they immediately sent me their questions, even though I couldn’t watch it yet.
When I visited an office with satellite television service and I saw an HBO East feed, I decided to reverse-cut the cord. I was completely broke, had been borrowing streaming passwords from my parents, etc. I committed over $100 per month to have a satellite dish installed on the outside wall of my one-bedroom apartment, having to ask the building owner for special permission because it was not that kind of building. I had to promise to patch the holes when I took it out. And I had a 24-inch nonflat-screen TV. No special or interesting setup. Was stealing Wi-Fi from a nearby coffee shop. But I had the entire HBO package.
This is now like six years later, but I actually still use this same method to get started with my work analyzing the episode at the earliest minute possible.” Filup Molina of New Rockstars