Can be fun

Going to the movies can be a fun and pleasurable experience, especially if the movie is a good one. There are times when the experience can be anything but pleasurable.

I went to the movie the other night. I got there early, picked my seat, turned off my cell phone and settled into my seat watching the previews. Which by the way have gotten way too long. Anyway, there was the usual chatter amongst the audience. Then a guy comes in looking around, first looking toward the back top portion of the seats. Then he looks straight ahead and sees the girl waving him down. He yells, “What? Why the hell are you sitting so close to the front?” She replied something that I couldn’t hear too well. Then he says “so I don’t get any say in this? Is there no compromise as to where we sit?” Take in mind; he is yelling this and all eyes are on him! At this point, I am thinking to myself, ‘this guy is kind of a jerk’. She said something to the effect that she had wanted to sit there and something about compromising. Then he yells back to her, “Oh, yeah, compromise is you sitting there and me going up to the back and sitting, huh?” He laughed, I guess to try to make himself look like he was not as much of a jerk as he came across being. He must have realized he was on the main stage at that point. Then he turned around and mumbled something and walked out.

This is an example of how someone can make your movie going experience unpleasant, but you have to give credit to them all. First, there is the latecomer. He comes in late, the theatre is dark, he stands at the bottom looking for a seat. Thinks he sees one, and walks to the row to find out the seat is not available. He continues to stand in that spot, blocking your view, while looking for another spot. Come on guy, move pleeeeease! What about the talker - all through the movie? You know that guy, the one that either thinks he knows what will happen or has to guess what will happen. Then there is the loud laugher. Every time the least little funny thing happens, he laughs like it is hysterical. Oh, the whisperer. He is constantly whispering, asking what is going to happen next, or why did that happen. Also, you have to count the cell maniac that has to take that URGENT phone call. They can’t be away from their cell phone for 2 hours, so the phone rings and they get up to go take the call, oooh aren’t they important? (Cell phone etiquette, that could be a blog in itself). Oh yeah, the up and down family next to you that has to get up a hundred times through the movie and steps on your toes saying “scuse me, scuse me”. Of course, there is the space invader, the guy that decides to sit either right in front of you or right next to you, when the theatre is only half full. This either blocks your view or gives you the feeling of personal space invasion….hmmm, just a little too close. Oh, we can’t forget the chair kicker! This guy either has extremely long legs and his knees keep knocking the back of your seat, or he crosses his leg and wiggles his foot against the back of your seat, or he is a little kid with ADD that just can’t sit still and repeatedly kicks the back of your seat.

Once, my boyfriend and I went to see a movie. We had really good seats, center of the theatre. The theatre was not full, but a guy and his date came in and sat right behind us. From the beginning, we had a bad feeling about this. The guy wouldn’t stop talking for anything. We thought at least he would stop talking when the movie started. Nooooo, he just kept getting worse. Then we heard a metal bottle cap hit the floor. We now knew why he couldn’t stop talking. He was sitting behind us getting drunk. Oh great! We had never experienced this before. The guy was really obnoxious and my boyfriend turned around and asked him nicely to be quiet, that he was making too much noise. He said “sorry”, but kept talking. Not too much later, it did seem to get a little better. Then before we knew it, he was sound asleep. Nothing like paying to take a nap.

Anyway, back to my most current outing. Right before the movie started, a girl came in calling “Susan, Susan.” Susan was the girl that had picked the seats up front. She responded quite loudly, Marco. (I was thinking to myself … “I think she should have responded ‘Polo’ instead of ‘Marco.’” Then I thought “why are these people in the front so loud?” She goes to sit down with Susan and they started laughing and talking. Then the yeller comes back in with another woman. He said loudly, “oh, I thought maybe you would have moved up to the back by now.” The two of them went to sit with Susan and the other girl. The woman sat down and the guy just stood there looking silly. I kept thinking the jerk should just sit down, which he finally did. My overall experience was not ruined by the yeller, as the movie was good and his seat was not too close to mine, but it had “the unpleasurable” potential. I guess I am too shy or more reserved, but I don’t go into a public place like that making a lot of noise. I know there are people that just need attention at all times and it doesn’t matter the situation. Sometimes they are just not considerate of others and don’t realize their actions could make a situation unpleasant for others. Well, maybe they do realize and just don’t care!