WHY CAN’T PEOPLE BEHAVE?
Posted by Karen on Jan 14 2008
We’re back. Did you miss me? Wondering where we were? Well, we schlepped up to Cleveland for the weekend to catch High School Musical on Ice and to visit my parents.
And of course, I had an experience to share with you. Remember waaaaaaay back when in my early blogging days when I discussed teaching your children proper theater etiquette? Well, about 30 years ago, several mothers seriously failed at that job. Either that, or these jerks figured they were in an “arena” and not a “theater.” Semantics I say.
Here’s what happened. We got to the arena early because we had left lots of time just in case we had problems. We were escorted to our front.row.seats! I wondered why our tickets were labeled V.I.P. I just ordered them off of ticketmaster like most other people. So we sat back to wait for the show.
Just before show time, a large group of people came and occupied the row behind us. Ok, they were a bit loud and wiggly while they all settled in, but that didn’t bother me. After all, we still had 5 minutes until show time. And then “Troy Bolton” took the ice and the 4 little girls behind us started screaming at the top of their lungs. Literally ear piercing screams. Over and over. Ok, that was annoying.
Then mom and dad had a conversation. The biggest problem is that the seating arrangement was like this:
Dad, empty seat, kid, kid, kid, kid, mom, grandma.
So, in order to be heard over the music of the show, just how loud do you think they had to yell to one another? Yeah, that loud. Then add some. Right in our ears.
From their conversation I gathered that they were expecting more people to join them. Oh, joy. Finally after a cell phone call and a lot of shuffling, the new family got settled. So now the seating arrangement was like this:
Aunt, uncle, dad, kid, aunt (with child on lap), empty seat, kid, kid, kid, kid, mom, grandma.
Who was behind me? Aunt, uncle, dad. All three who made it painfully obvious they did NOT want to be there. Although they seemed very happy to sit with their 3 beers a piece. Obviously, that’s what they came for. They didn’t come to watch the skaters, or listen to the music. They came to chat with one another, drink beer, and heckle the performers.
And to make my experience miserable.
So all during the first act, I debated if I should say something to them. I mean, I did want to enjoy the show, but I didn’t want to provoke three drunk people. I can see the headlines now, “Home schooling mom goes berzerk at local arena.”
Intermission was peaceful, they had all left. Unfortunately they all returned for the second act. Finally, 10 minutes into it I just could not stand it one bit more. ENOUGH! After all, these seats were $80 each. And they were ruining it for me.
So I turned around and kindly asked them to keep their voices down, because with all of their talking, I was missing parts of the show.
Uncle’s sarcastic response was, “You’re missing even more of the show by turning around and talking to us.” (insert smug look here)
So I turned back around, ticked off. How incredibly rude. But it worked. They hardly said a peep for 10 minutes (except when I heard dad tell uncle, “You handled that perfectly.”)
But then it started back up again. As did the screaming down to mom (now 8 seats away) to pass another beer down. (sigh)
The icing on the cake? One of the idiots spilled beer on my coat. So I got to drive home with a wet sleeve and smelling like a frat party.
More icing? Mike didn’t hear a peep of this. He was too far down to hear it. Instead, he was right in front of the screaming girls who stopped screaming 5 minutes into the show.
Would you have handled it any differently? How do you handle rude people at theaters/shows/arenas/etc? Or are you like Mike and you just don’t hear it?
on 14 Jan 2008 at 10:59 am 1 Mary said …
That stinks! I think you handled it well and those people are just ignorant. Sorry to hear they ruined the show for you.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 11:38 am 2 Mary said …
I think you handled it better than I would have. I probably would have came back with, “Well, if you guys weren’t so loud I wouldn’t have to be turned around in the first place.” I’m sorry you missed it. Leave it up to Cleveland people. They may be the most “supportive” fans around, but they are also the most rude. Don’t get me started on the rude Browns fans! Other than that, how was (what you saw of) the show? Hope it was up to HSM standards!!
on 14 Jan 2008 at 12:38 pm 3 Christy said …
I think that I would have made a “bathroom break” after a few minutes. During that Bathroom Break, I would have notified security of three adults that were becoming loud and belligerent.
I’m rude like that. I have had too many bad experiences wtih jerks.
We are going to see “Elmo Live” in a few weeks. I hope to god I don’t embarrass my 2 year old.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 1:21 pm 4 Awesome Mom said …
You need to start carrying around a taser. Then you can quickly take care of any rude people in the theater.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 1:58 pm 5 peppermint t said …
I agree with Awesome Mom. A taser would do the trick
on 14 Jan 2008 at 3:03 pm 6 SmockLady said …
Number 1. I would have started like you did with a kind request to stop, but I would have done it sooner.
Number 2. If that didn’t work I would have gotten management to respond to it or remove them.
Number 3. If management did not handle it by removing it AND it continued I would have demanded my money back.
This works for me in both live theater and movie theaters, by the way.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 3:35 pm 7 ValleyGirl said …
YOU handled it well!! I would have been way nastier. I absolutely can’t stand idiots like that.
on 14 Jan 2008 at 3:54 pm 8 Becka said …
I would have reported them as well!!!
hey guess what
you’ve been tagged!! See my blog post at http://theparentblog.learnandgrowtogether.com/2008/01/14/ive-been-tagged.aspx
on 14 Jan 2008 at 6:50 pm 9 Midsummer Night said …
I have no idea what I would have done. It sounds like they were awful!
on 14 Jan 2008 at 7:36 pm 10 Teri said …
You showed them Christian love and turned the other cheek. Wish I could say that’s what I would have done. I’da smacked their beer in their face and said “Oops”! Then when management came to see what the ruckus was, I’d let Rick at ‘em
on 14 Jan 2008 at 8:51 pm 11 Patricia (Pollywog Creek) said …
How awful! You spent way too much money to have it ruined for you that way. I think I would have asked my husband to say something for me earlier. If that didn’t work, I would have asked management to give us different seats. I am so sorry you had to deal with that, Karen.
on 15 Jan 2008 at 6:17 am 12 Tiffany said …
That’s a hard one.
I would have been fuming too but I don’t know that i would have had the guts to say anything.
I probably would have switched seats with Mike, if I were you.
Sorry they ruined it for you.
on 15 Jan 2008 at 12:14 pm 13 Dawn @ Coming to a Nursery Near You said …
That sucks - a couple of years ago, we took Anthony to a Kenny Chesney concert at the Patriots stadium and even though the beers were $8 a piece, it didn’t stop 99% of the rest of the concertgoers from boozing it up. When the making out & stripping began - we moved - then moved again. It was reaaly annoying too. In your case, I’d have talked to an usher.
on 15 Jan 2008 at 1:39 pm 14 Deb - Mom of 3 Girls said …
Oh what awful, rude, inconsiderate people! Next time make Dr. Mike switch seats with you…
on 15 Jan 2008 at 4:36 pm 15 said …
Ugh that is awful! I think you did the right thing, saying something, but I am sorry they were jerks. It would have been fun to tattle on them but probably kind of obvious that it was YOU who did so…I don’t like to mess with drunks either! They might retaliate! Yikes!
on 21 Jan 2008 at 7:43 pm 16 DICK said …
I would have asked them to please be quiet as I’m packing and I’ll blow they heads off. The will leave the show. Also don’t worry about losing weight, remember heavy ppl are happy ppl.