We went to see the Bourne Ultimatum this afternoon. Behind us was a middle aged couple who spoke throughout the movie, though not so constantly as to make me turn around to shush them. The woman was also occasionally shushing the man, anyway. Still, I’ve had it with this sort of thing.
When the lights came up during the credits I stood up, turned around, and told the man directly, “It was very rude of you to talk through the movie. I hope you’re properly embarrassed.” He mumbled a “sorry,” I said “OK then,” then I turned and walked out.
good for you. That wasn’t rude of you. It was rude of him. Glad you gave him a reminder he’s not the only person on the planet. Hope it’ll do some good, but probably not.
I was at Target, buying a special on Pepsi, 3 six packs for $10. Nice! The lady behind practicly starts lecturing me on how it’s not healthy to drink that much pop (as she’s buying a huge case of water, what a saint!). "in this heat you should really be drinking water. Me and the clerk both shared a knowing glance. You knpw those moments where you don’t think of the perfect thing to say until after it’s too late. Well, unfortunately that happened to me. What i did say was “I live in a family of four, what in the blue fuck gave you the idea was going to drink all 432 oz of Pepsi in one sitting in my house alone?! For all your atrophied piece of sponge you call a brain knows I might be having a party, stocking up, or get this, taking advantage of a sale. See this credit card I have in my hand? It’s got my name on it and us directly linked to the money in my checking accout, which could be interpreted as ‘mind your own fucking business’. Last time I checked this was America and out of spite, I’m going to buy 3 more tomorrow if i want to. Have a nice day and i hope you drown on your bottled water.”
You should’ve said it’s not healthy for America to be buying that 3 gallon tub of water that came out of some snake oil salesman’s tap and you buy your water straight from Uncle Sam, not the federal government, but your Uncle Samuel what runs the municipal water authority.
People need to get this passive-self-aggressive idea out of their head that they are not allowed to say anything about the obvious transgressions of others. Oh sure, it’s one thing to be a self-righteous moralizer, but it’s something else to put up with this guy’s behavior throughout an entire movie, then beat oneself up for actually saying something about it.
I was walking into a 7-11 one day, and as I opened the door and started my ingress, this wimpy little guy was rushing out thru the door, not even looking, so he ran right into me. I thought, “WTF with the running into me, would he have run into the closed door if I wasn’t there?”
Well, he went flying backwards and down towards the floor, because I was prepared for the impact, don’t you know.
And then, while he’s lying on his back, spread eagle, I say, “Oops, sorry,” even tho it wasn’t my fault. HE ran into ME, you see.
Being a wimpy little guy, he was probably running from another big masculine trying to kick him in the nads for some other imagined insult to the big gut’s superior manhood.
Maybe.
Most theaters I go to have at least one please turn you cellphone off/don’t talk during the movie-type announcement. If people start talking once the feature starts–I immediately shush them, quite loudly. That usually shuts them up.
As I get older, I notice that I occasionally interrupt a conversation or a tv program. It’s not rudeness, it’s absent-mindedness. I think a lot of older people do it.
A polite shush might just work. Maybe not. His wife’s admonitions didn’t seem to.
The other day, I went to the deli for lunch. A man entered right behind me and walked around me to get in front of me on line. I thought “eh, no biggie, I’m not in that much of a hurry”. But when the counter guy went to help a woman off to the side, the man said “I was here first” the woman said “No, I was. I am in the middle of my order” at which point I sais to the man “and technically, I should go before you because I walked in ahead of you and you cut in front of me” He looked appropriately chagrinned and offered to let me go before him.
In a place like a movie theater, where everyone who’s not a fucking moron knows that you’re supposed to shut the fuck up, rudeness and absent-mindedness are exactly the same thing.
And being old is no fucking excuse. Especially when so many older people constantly complain about how rude young people are nowdays. Being old is a valid excuse for walking slowly, or taking longer to climb a flight of stairs, or needing glasses to help you read, or needing a prostate exam. It’s not an excuse to act like an asshole.
If by that you mean that you’ll keep your mouth shut in movie theaters, then that’s good.
I don’t claim to be an authority on all questions of manners and etiquette, but if you don’t know that talking in a movie theater is bad manners, and that age is no excuse for it, then you mustn’t get out much.