Maybe the most germane question is: If someone makes a rude request, are you rude for not doing it?
To my mind, by its nature a rude request is one that you have no social obligation to do. You may choose to look beyond the rudeness, but that’s more than just standard politeness.
If someone comes up and says, “How much money do you make?” answering “That’s none of your business” is not rude. You can choose to answer if you want, either because it doesn’t bother you or because you choose to rise above the bother, but it’s not rude not to answer.
If someone comes up and says, “What time is it?” the same answer becomes rude.
In the subway station afterwards, a man kept demanding I buy him peanuts. I again said “Sorry, I can’t”. He became annoyed, and would not give up. I told him I don’t carry cash (which is true). Finally, we walked far enough away that he gave up.
If you are concerned about getting germs from other people, you should not even be inside a movie theater.
If someone asks you if you could move over into your “buffer seat” to make room for them, it’s polite to do so. In fact, I would say that saying no in this case verges on rude.
The fact that there were five empty rows in the front is a mitigating factor, however, and makes a refusal less rude than it otherwise would be. Still not cool, though.
If you ask someone to move over and they say no, you should go find somewhere else to sit, or find a manager who will help you find seats together (or give you a refund if there are no available seats). Berating the people who said no is beyond rude.
Dude. You could express a sexual fetish for woolen gloves made from the fur of baby marmosets, and there would be people who agreed with you. The fact that people agree with you does not give your argument any kind of legitimacy whatsoever.
I don’t care who “created” them. You were asked to move into them; you refused. Rude. Not as rude as the people who then yelled at you for it, but still rude.
While I am speaking as the proverbial baby marmoset glove fetishist, the fact that people agree does give legitimacy when it’s a matter of social convention, which is all rude or polite behavior is.
Maybe if lots of people agree. A couple of people out of an entire thread, not so much.
FWIW, your posts in this thread actually seemed to be disagreeing with the OP (unless I missed one of your posts, always possible). I do actually think that in a theater with unassigned seats, you are socially obligated to move over to get rid of single empty chairs to allow other people to sit together. Ideally you would do this before even being asked, but certainly if someone politely asks you, you should do it at that time.
Are we now talking farts in the face? Because originally I thought the program was SBD. These details matter.
I think that asking people to move when there are plenty of empty seats is not acceptable and that choosing to move under those circumstances is more than merely polite.
What some people are trying to state here is that couples trump your right to stay in your seat, even though if this ass went to the ushers and asked them to make you move. I suspect the ushers would tell him no, we can’t do that. Sit in the front or take the scattered seats in that row.
But mademoiselle I’d go to the cinema with you anytime, In a crowded theatre when I leave to go to the bathroom I know my seat will be safe with you. Perfect seat saver.
About this, I often wait to go to movies until they’ve been out for ages, deliberately waiting weeks/months, so the cinema will be mostly empty and I can (1) have a seat next to me to sit my purse and jacket and snacks on (cinema floors are disgusting and having all that in my lap for up to three hours is annoying) and (2) because I like personal space.
I go out of my way to do this (having to wait ages to see a movie, then showing up super early to pick my seat), so isn’t some guy coming up choosing me to sit next to out of an entire empty cinema, or asking me to move, rude?
Life hands you precious few chances to do a nice thing for others. Most ways of improving lives require significant investments of time, money, and relationship building. But now and then, you are just handed something in your lap, with nearly no effort on your part, to make the world a slightly better place.
I’d venture that the people who see that as an opportunity live happier lives than those who see it as an infringement.
I said it was a measure. There are other factors. Such as perhaps where a blunt description of someone’s behaviour is warranted and true.
Your feelings are at best mixed, or you wouldn’t have started this thread asking whether you were in the right.
What has this got to do with the situation outlined in the OP?
Here’s something I do: if I find I’m having to resort to an analogy or example that is barely relevant to the situation under discussion to be able to make my position sound reasonable, I conclude my position may not be overly viable. How about you?
Thanks, I try my best.