( CNN ) -- This is not a great week to be a government employee , but one movie theater chain is trying to ease the pain . AMC has announced that its theaters are offering free small popcorns to those employed by the government , regardless of whether a movie ticket is also purchased . Instead , the individual needs to simply present a valid government or military-issued ID at a concession stand . If they 're particularly hungry , they can apply the discount offer to a larger size . `` There are hundreds of thousands of federal workers whose lives are being impacted , '' AMC 's executive vice president of operations , John McDonald , said in a statement . `` While we ca n't do anything to resolve gridlock in Washington , D.C. , we can provide a few hours of entertainment and free popcorn while they wait to get back to work . '' The government shutdown went into effect on October 1 and has furloughed around 800,000 federal employees . One major aspect to this shutdown that remains unanswered is how long those workers will have to wait until they see their next paycheck . AMC says in its statement that the gratis snackage `` is good until common sense is restored in Washington , D.C. , or , more likely , until the shutdown ends or we run out of free popcorn . '' Video : How kids would end the shutdown . Bob Greene : Taxpayers deserve a shutdown refund .
Movie chain AMC is offering free small popcorns to government workers . A movie ticket does not need to be purchased to receive the offer . The discount will stand 'until good common sense is restored in Washington '