# I'm not giving up my seat **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 16, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431 "2013-01-16T22:34:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 53
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1041 "2013-01-22T00:00:50Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Shayna aint dumb. She is wrong this time I think, and I think, indeed saying she’d do something that in real life she would not do, but not dumb, and from past reads of her posts, not a jerk. She is however being odd with that Republican comment. > > Hentor, did “full” mean the first first five rows were empty? I don’t think there’s a “right” or “wrong” here. What there is is “rude” and “decent.” mademoiselle and her ::clears throat:: ESS OH were unnecessarily rude to people who just wanted to sit in two available seats in their row because she was “entitled” to them. I mean _Jesus fuck_, I’d have _offered_ to move for them so they could sit together before making them ask. I certainly wouldn’t have created a damn scene with my selfish stubbornness. It’s a fucking seat in a movie theater, not a coveted spot on the first civilian space shuttle to the moon. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1042 "2013-01-22T00:07:20Z")
Shayna, dollface, we’ve gone over this before. There are some people in the world who just don’t believe in extending common courtesies. Worse yet, some people feel _actively victimized_ by being asked to move down. As if they earned their seats by showing up early, and they’re a “sucker” (no shit – this was the word used) if someone would like you to move down to sit next to his girlfriend. You’re talking to people who just don’t think like you. There’s also the “If I move over for some guy at the movies, then does that mean I have to give some bum the blood that I bleed?” crew. We can ignore them, because they’re stupid and smell bad. ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1043 "2013-01-22T00:09:09Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Shayna, dollface, we’ve gone over this before. There are some people in the world who just don’t believe in extending common courtesies. Worse yet, some people feel _actively victimized_ by being asked to move down. As if they earned their seats by showing up early, and they’re a “sucker” (no shit – this was the word used) if someone would like you to move down to sit next to his girlfriend. You’re talking to people who just don’t think like you. There’s also the “If I move over for some guy at the movies, then does that mean I have to give some bum the blood that I bleed?” crew. We can ignore them, because they’re stupid and smell bad. I thought you were leaving? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1044 "2013-01-22T00:11:15Z")
Shayna I get that you do not have any empathy for her irrational fear of the person coughing that she was not wanting to move closer to. Just substitute it for something that might make sense to you, say the seat in front of you in your current seat is empty and the one in front of the one you are being asked to move to is occupied by a professional linebacker. And you are 5 foot even. Some reason that moving over actually matters to you, would change your ability to enjoy the movie. That’s how moving closer to the obviously ill person would have been experienced by her. And she did not want to have to explain that. Yeah sure she could have thought on the spot and come up with other shuffling around solutions, but again, that rearrangement may not have been appreciated much by those around them, whose movie watching would have been disrupted. If you have been delayed by saving a group of orphans from a burning building then suck it up and sit in the seats that are open without making other people move around. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1045 "2013-01-22T00:14:19Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > I worked as an usher in my youth. We certainly did make people move around if the theater was full. We did this even if the movie had started. The theater wasn’t full, though. That makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1046 "2013-01-22T00:18:09Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Of course I wouldn’t have _expected_ people to move for me. But in my 51 years on this planet I have also never, ever encountered some rude bitch who _refused_ to do so when I’ve asked. > > The point I’m trying to make is that the people who asked her to move her ass weren’t out of line… Since they were asking after the movie had already been running for several minutes, they most certainly were. If they didn’t want to sit apart in the “good” seats, or sit together in the empty rows remaining, they could and should have asked for a refund on their ticket and come back ON TIME another time, when they could have selected adjacent seats they liked. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1047 "2013-01-22T00:20:18Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Shayna, dollface, we’ve gone over this before. There are some people in the world who just don’t believe in extending common courtesies. Worse yet, some people feel _actively victimized_ by being asked to move down. As if they earned their seats by showing up early, and they’re a “sucker” (no shit – this was the word used) if someone would like you to move down to sit next to his girlfriend. You’re talking to people who just don’t think like you. There’s also the “If I move over for some guy at the movies, then does that mean I have to give some bum the blood that I bleed?” crew. We can ignore them, because they’re stupid and smell bad. My love for you has deepened with this post. ❤ > [@DSeid](#): > > Shayna I get that you do not have any empathy for her irrational fear of the person coughing that she was not wanting to move closer to. Just substitute it for something that might make sense to you, say the seat in front of you in your current seat is empty and the one in front of the one you are being asked to move to is occupied by a professional linebacker. And you are 5 foot even. Some reason that moving over actually matters to you, would change your ability to enjoy the movie. That’s how moving closer to the obviously ill person would have been experienced by her. And she did not want to have to explain that. > > Yeah sure she could have thought on the spot and come up with other shuffling around solutions, but again, that rearrangement may not have been appreciated much by those around them, whose movie watching would have been disrupted. If you have been delayed by saving a group of orphans from a burning building then suck it up and sit in the seats that are open without making other people move around. _She_ didn’t have to move an inch closer to the cougher. Her ESS OH could have taken that seat, still leaving her exactly as far away as she currently was. She didn’t have to move _at all_. We all take our chances when we go out in public. If she were really _that_ concerned that she was still vulnerable to the flu following her only recent recovery from her own cold, she should have stayed home until she felt her immune system was less susceptible. Nothing she’s said mitigates her selfishness. Why? Because I don’t buy for a single moment that she was really concerned about her sickness. Otherwise she wouldn’t have even _mentioned_ what time she showed up at the theater and “claimed” “her” seats. This is completely about her damn entitlement mentality. She got there early and by G-d she wasn’t going to accommodate late-comers. Period. She’s an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1048 "2013-01-22T00:24:24Z")
> [@artemis](#): > > Since they were asking after the movie had already been running for several minutes, they most certainly were. If they didn’t want to sit apart in the “good” seats, or sit together in the empty rows remaining, they could and should have asked for a refund on their ticket and come back ON TIME another time, when they could have selected adjacent seats they liked. LOL! As if that matters. Five seconds to scootch your entitled ass over is _less_ rude _after the movie has started_ than creating a scene was. Her selfish rudeness caused everyone around her to be annoyed just as the movie was starting. Whereas if they had just been polite to the late-arriving couple, _no one_ would have been disturbed. But it’s always someone else’s fault, isn’t it. (That’s rhetorical, btw. I already know what your answer will be, so no need to waste the keystrokes.) ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1049 "2013-01-22T00:27:03Z")
> [@l1I235](#): > > Finally! Someone made me laugh out loud! Hey, hey, hey. No laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1050 "2013-01-22T00:27:52Z")
After rereading the op, I’m curious about how the other patrons were reacting to the great seat war of 2013. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1051 "2013-01-22T00:29:54Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Whereas if they had just been polite to the late-arriving couple, _no one_ would have been disturbed. Mother of God, over 1,000 posts in this bitch of a thread? And you’re wrong. The people immediately behind this cluster fuck of people standing up and moving over would have been disturbed. And if this person had walked in front of me to demand people move over, I would have been “disturbed”. She should have sat her ass down in the open seats and everyone (except her) would have been happy. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1052 "2013-01-22T00:41:56Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > LOL! As if that matters. It certainly does matter. And it was the late-arriving couple who created the scene, not the OP. They should have sat their asses down pronto in the plentiful empty seats that were present in the theater, rather than disturbing the people (including the OP) who had arrived on time and were already watching the movie. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1053 "2013-01-22T00:50:07Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > And I appreciate how you ( **Anonymous User** ) have learned to submit short posts. There’s a future here for you yet, kid. > [@Askthepizzaguy](#): > > This thread is a rather interesting study in human social behavior… You, on the other hand, still have some work to do. ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1054 "2013-01-22T00:55:21Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > The people immediately behind this cluster fuck of people standing up and moving over would have been disturbed. > > And if this person had walked in front of me to demand people move over, I would have been “disturbed”. > > She should have sat her ass down in the open seats and everyone (except her) would have been happy. It really is that simple, isn’t it? The disturbance was created by them, not me. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1055 "2013-01-22T00:55:28Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Mother of God, over 1,000 posts in this bitch of a thread? > > And you’re wrong. The people immediately behind this cluster fuck of people standing up and moving over would have been disturbed. > > And if this person had walked in front of me to demand people move over, I would have been “disturbed”. > > She should have sat her ass down in the open seats and everyone (except her) would have been happy. No, I’m not wrong; you’re wrong. Gosh that got us far! > [@artemis](#): > > It certainly does matter. And it was the late-arriving couple who created the scene, not the OP. They should have sat their asses down pronto in the plentiful empty seats that were present in the theater, rather than disturbing the people (including the OP) who had arrived on time and were already watching the movie. OH MY G-D, I’ve NEVER had someone stand for a moment in a MOVIE theater! Oh the HUMANITY! No one’s EVER STOOD to go to the bathroom or get refreshments or ANYTHING. You’re a damn idiot. Thank the fucking flying spaghetti monster I’ve never encountered such rude assholes who think they own their theater seats as you people. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1056 "2013-01-22T00:57:24Z")
> [@l1I235](#): > > It really is that simple, isn’t it? > > The disturbance was created by them, not me. Which a simple gesture of courtesy could have avoided. But you’d rather be stubborn than be kind. You’re an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1057 "2013-01-22T01:05:33Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > Which a simple gesture of courtesy could have avoided. > > But you’d rather be stubborn than be kind. > > You’re an asshole. Why do you feel so strongly about this? Are you by any chance the sort who shows up late to a movie, and demands the seat of their choice, even if it is already occupied? But you are up for lying to get your way. (oh, I’m sorry, “use an excuse”.) That is something I never stooped to. Also, your “neck injury” would have been fine in any of the other scattered seats around me, or even, gasp! The seats on the side of us. As I said, the manager would have told ou to find another seat. ---
**Author:** ![l1I235](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@l1I235](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/l1I235)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1058 "2013-01-22T01:07:37Z")
By the way, the name calling does no favors to your argument. Why don’t you ask Mean Old Lady? ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1059 "2013-01-22T01:15:37Z")
> [@Shayna](#): > > No, I’m not wrong; you’re wrong. Gosh that got us far! OH MY G-D, I’ve NEVER had someone stand for a moment in a MOVIE theater! Oh the HUMANITY! No one’s EVER STOOD to go to the bathroom or get refreshments or ANYTHING. > > You’re a damn idiot. No, I am a courteous moviegoer who does her damnedest to arrive early enough to pick out a seat I like, and who if late moves as quickly and quietly as I can to the nearest unoccupied seat regardless of whether or not it’s a “nice” seat. And who certainly doesn’t expect to sit together with her friends in the nice seats if we arrive late. I see no reason to be accommodating to people like the couple the OP mentioned, who were being deliberately rude. Once the movie has started, you owe it to the other people in the theater to minimize any disruptions. Bladder breaks are one thing; pickiness over seats when there are still plenty available is quite another. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431/1060 "2013-01-22T01:21:53Z")
**mademoiselle** , are you still having fun with this thread? 'Cuz maybe it’s time to put it out of its misery if you are not. Just a suggestion, but with over a thousand posts you’ve only scratched the surface of Dopers you can get supporting or demeaning you, and that can’t be fun. I’ve been there and I eventually reach a point where I just stop replying. It’s easier on my blood pressure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-giving-up-my-seat/647431.md?page=54)