2/15/10

All Idiots-First Come, First Served!


I know I'm posting super late today. I have a painful dental issue today and I have tried, unsuccessfully to get an appointment with a dentist all day! My regular dentist and 6 others are unavailable today (and tomorrow!) I finally got an appointment tomorrow with a dentist, not mine. Is Monday the official Dentist's day off? They don't work in the winter? What's a person to do? Anyway, I'll just work through the excruciating agony, no problem.
Over the weekend my husband and I went to a theater to see Kathleen Madigan perform. Unfamiliar? She's a comedian, wildly funny. We first saw her on Last Comic Standing several years ago and we've been fans ever since. The show was great and we had a wonderful time. Well, we had a wonderful time except for this one issue.....Stupid People!
I'm telling you there are too many disrespectful idiots in this world for my taste. In my world there are many gray issues, but there are also A LOT of things that are just plain black and white. For instance; when you purchase tickets to a show at a theater, or the movies for that matter, and the show begins at 8:00pm, what time should you plan to arrive and get to your assigned seat? Here you go, I'll give you multiple choice on this:
A. 7:45pm
B. 8 freakin 30pm

In my mind the correct answer is A. 7:45pm and that is when we arrived and sat in our assigned seats, got our coats settled, etc. You might get thirsty you say? Sure, we purchased our drinks at the bar prior to being seated. Oh, and we had a bathroom check at that time as well. This is a theater, not your living room folks, you can't DVR the show while you wander around looking in the refrigerator, plus there are other people to consider and yes, I know that comes as a surprise. There were people still arriving to be seated at 8:45pm! Why Bother? What you got caught up in a Mayberry RFD rerun and forgot?
Then there are the ones who need to pop up and leave their seat every 10 minutes. Oh, you think I exaggerate? The three people in front of us and toward the center of the aisle each stood up and left their seat, collectively 4 times during the second half of the show..after intermission!
I have a couple of ideas for this nonsense; first, no more assigned seats, apparently we, as a society are not responsible enough to handle that kind of freedom. Everything is first come, first served. If you arrive late you will stand at the back of the theater. Second, if you can not remain in your seat for the 45 minutes remaining until intermission, then you will have to move to the back of the theater upon your return from the bar so be sure to carry your coat along with you. Problems solved.
I only wish I owned a theater so I could try out these new rules. Who is with me? Does this make sense to you?

19 comments:

Ann said...

sounds reasonable to me. Why bother buying tickets to anything if you aren't going to sit and watch.

Jen said...

I love your rules and as soon as they are implemented I will return to the theater.

Kathleen Madigan is one of my favorites. I love that she giggles uncontrollably when she tells her own stories. I have her on my ipod and listen to her in the car all the time. And I can understand her accent.

Lin said...

Ugh. I hate how people act now when they go to a theater--movie or otherwise. Like you said--I think they feel like we are all in THEIR living rooms. I can hardly go to a movie anymore for how rude folks are. Let me know when you open your theater--I'm going there.

Liz Mays said...

It's amazing to me how much people move around during events these days! I'm with you!

vange said...

I kinda count on nothing starting on time and I can't stand waiting for anything. Getting to an 8:00 show at 7:45 would leave me with close to half an hour with nothing to do. UGH. I won't even wait for a table in a restaurant.

Lee said...

I totally agree with you. When people get up and down in a movie theater that annoys me as well...it's just so simple to go before the movie starts!!

BeadedTail said...

I so agree with you! I don't understand why people can't stay seated through the whole show. How do they go anywhere without having to take breaks to do whatever they "have" to do every 10 minutes? Crazy.

MikeWJ at Too Many Mornings said...

I was totally with you until I reached a certain age and my bladder lost its elasticity and I started having to go the bathroom every 45 minutes or so. Now I'm slightly more sympathetic, unless it's a kid. Then I advocate changing the law so that it's legal to shoot the popper-uppers who ruin concerts, plays and performances.

Madigan's hilarious, by the way.

The Bee said...

I actually put some of the blame on the theater. Edo and I arrived about 10 minutes late to that Final Fanstasy concert last year and the ushers made us stand in the back of the theater until a break before allowing us to take our seats so as to not disturb the audience members who got there on time. I understood completely. I think the ushers need to take some control over these people.

janaes jewels said...

definitely maddening, particularly when you are trying to enjoy the show and have to crane your neck back and forth to see around the eejits in front of you!

Cruise Addict said...

Hounds to me, you hit it on the head in the first few sentences. Why bother to come at all? You also forgot the annoying talkers, cell phone idiots and people who do not believe in baths or deodorant.

Cruise Addict said...

Sounds also not hounds arghhh

Sandee said...

We quit going to shows and the movies because of this rude behavior. Clods I call them. I love your new rules though. I think they would work just fine.

Have a terrific day. :)

Anonymous said...

Ah, you hit a nerve there. Another reason why I don't go to movies and such. Common courtesy is just not so common any more.

Jen said...

Common courtesy is another one of those oxymorons (heavy on the moron). I rarely go to the theater or movies anymore, but when I have gone I've noticed that people seem to be an awful lot ruder than they used to be (cell phones being one of the more obnoxious additions over the years). I'd have to agree with The Bee, about the ushers (although your rules would definitely work for me :o)

injaynesworld said...

Excellent rules. It's too bad that adults still have to be treated like children to enforce a little common courtesy.

Jude said...

I hope you at least got to enjoy part of the show always fun to get dressed up and go out. The older I get the less I can tolerate being in any group setting so I tend to avoid any place I have to have people all around me, I need my space. Your rules sound fine to me and I hope your tooth is better.

Spicybugz said...

You are so right! This is why I no longer go to the theater. I no doubt would have said something. Maybe if enough people complained to management, and demanded their money back because they couldn't watch the show, they will start enforcing some rules.

Katherine said...

Kind of like movie theaters. Talk talk talk, ring ring ring... why can't people just GO to something, sit and watch it? I'm right there with you!