I hope you will indulge me while I reprint the blog entry that started this particular blogstream.
It appeared in Daddy's Home, my blog on homekeeping, repairs, design, etc.
Enjoy!
(All Too Un)Common Courtesy - Redux
Friendly followers and readers,
Would it be okay for me to rant a bit here on my blog?
It's actually a polite courtesy for me to ask you because, frankly, I'm gonna do it anyway 'cause it's my blog and I REALLY need the outlet at the moment.
I know that writing about manners has the potential of being boring and tedious for the reader but maybe some random reader will tune in and finally tell someone they know about the points I make here.
OBVIOUSLY, none of my current readers and followers fall into these categories because they are personages of extraordinary taste and breeding who would never be rude in public or private, but we can't always choose our friends and acquaintances by the standards we hold ourselves to, now can we?
We were surprised that there was not a larger crowd but were happy that we were able to get our favorite seats - the first row of the upper level with no visual obstructions to the screen. We sat down ready to enjoy this wonderful opportunity together and throughout the previews of coming attractions the two...um...boys sitting next to us were holding an animated conversation which didn't seem as if it would abate when the show came time to begin. BIG surprise, they talked to one another and the other two boys they were with throughout the entire opening number barely, it seemed, to come up for air.
I tried. God knows I tried to ignore the talking but, to tell the truth, we got the feeling that they were in some way part of that generation whose parents have never taught there children any manners, respect or the etiquette involved in actually leaving the house on any given day and becoming a productive, non-self-centered member of society as a whole.
And, no. It is NOT my job to educate these young people (OY, I feel so old when I say that!) but it IS my right, after paying for a ticket to a performance of any kind, to enjoy said performance without having to winnow through extra dialogue that wasn't in the original script of the production and is merely being added by the amateurs NEXT TO ME IN THE AUDIENCE.
In the spirit of full disclosure I might add that some small part of me does enjoy the confrontational moment when I choose to demand my rights in these situations and, truth be told, it embarrasses the living heck out of Jae, but a gentleman's got to do what a gentleman's got to do and being a gentleman....I did it.
I was not rude. No. I just rose from my seat, leaned over, and in a low but firm voice said,
"This is NOT your living room."
To which I got the curt reply,
"There's a whole theater full of seats."
Not one to let my point be misunderstood, I said (with a sharp poke of my thumb in the direction of the lobby,
"Yes, I know. And talking is to be done OUTside."
Whereupon - what are the odds? - their conversations stopped.
Now whether it was because they were scared of the two hundred fifty pound man with the shaved head, goatee and tattoos who was, at the very least, twice their age and strength, or it was because they had somehow learned a little something about theater etiquette.....honestly I don't know.
But that evening, the Ziegfeld Theater was a better place for the silence of the audience except for their reactions to the show we had all come - and paid - to see.
My point, of course, is for us all to think about the fact that pubic places are not designed for the behavior that we use in private situations and that no one should consider themselves more or less entitled than anyone else in any social situation.
My concern is, if course, that current society has become overrun with the entitlement issues of class, wealth and hard work without any of the class, wealth and hard work being achieved first.
WOW, I feel a bit better. Thanks for allowing my rant.
Anything to add? Comments? Please, feel free.
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