A few weeks ago, Hubby and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary by going out to lunch and then to a movie. Surprisingly, there was actually a movie playing that we wanted to see. Seeing as this was on a weekday, few people were at the theater. Nevertheless, the ticket agent required us to select our seats. I found it rather strange since the movie was scheduled to start in five minutes and there were only a couple of seats already taken. Still, we made our selection and proceeded into the theater. We found a good spot and settled in (not sure if it was in our “assigned” seats or not).

The theater was empty except for a couple down front. Then, after twenty minutes of previews, just when the movie started, another couple came in. Guess where they sat. Right in front of us. Now I ask you, with a nearly empty theater, why would people choose seats directly in front of other people? Hubby and I looked at each other and shook our heads. Then I scooted down three seats. Having to move annoyed me as I was already settled in and my seat was warm. I had to wonder if the people in front of us deliberately chose those seats from the ticket agent or if we were in the wrong for not sitting in our assigned seats. Still, wouldn’t you think common sense would prevail and these people would say, “Gee, there is a whole theater open to us. We don’t have to sit in front of those people?”

This must be a common occurrence, however, as the same thing happened at the football game Friday night. We had gotten to the stadium early to get our seats at the top where we could lean back against the press box. We had a great view and there was nobody in the bleachers directly in front of us. We waited through almost an hour of pregame activities until it was finally time for the game to start. Just when the teams were lining up for the kickoff, despite the fact there was a large section of open bleachers to the right of us, a couple of people jammed into the bleachers directly in front of us and proceeded to spend ten minutes opening their stadium seats. All I saw of the opening of the game was two behinds wrestling with enormous stadium seats trying to figure out how to set them up. Once they finally settled in, I still couldn’t see a thing. Nor could I move my legs.

I grabbed all my paraphernalia from the space I had painstakingly laid claim to an hour earlier and scooted down to where the bleachers in front of us were wide open. Now I barely had a backrest against the edge of the press box, but at least I could see. Hubby followed. Now I realize that I sound like a crotchety old lady, and I do understand that stadium seating can get crowded. But when there is a perfectly good, open section a mere three feet away (I mean it’s not like they would have had to move from the fifty-yard line to the ten-yard line) WHY in the name of all that’s good do people decide to plunk down smack dab in front of other people? I’m glad we moved because their seats extended way too far into our personal space, kind of like people who jam their seats back in an airplane while you have a drink sitting on your tray table. (Don’t get me started on a different diatribe.)

Maybe it’s just the introvert in me, but when I have a choice of sitting practically on top of people or a little way away, I generally seek wide-open spaces. But maybe it’s because I’m such a great person that I naturally attract strangers to sit close. Yeah, that must be the case.