Now that the season of holiday concerts are over, I pit all those obnoxious parents who arrived early to save entire rows of seats for their extended families, friends and neighbors.
I am so tired of trying to take a seat towards the front only to be told that the seats are “reserved”. Often the seats were left empty until the last possible moment and sometimes, remained empty the entire performance.
I really don’t mind someone saving one seat for their spouse who is off dropping the child at the classroom or back stage. It is the two, three, four that have coats, programs and camaras put on them to safe the seat that tick me off.
So what say you? Am I being unreasonable and if not, what can be said or done to not have to sit way in the back or even stand when other people arrive later to their “reserved” seating?
I sit where I want. If someone wants to raise a stink that the seats are “reserved,” I tell them to show me a seat number on the ticket or shut up. I’ve never had an usher or manager take any side but mine if it came to that.
I always give those people the benefit of the doubt, and assume that they are in that role against their will. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do in the face of stubborn family members who insist “just save seats for us!” that wouldn’t result in more headache than it’s worth. Personally, I know that when my family does that to me it’s much easier for me to deal with the people who get annoyed that I’m saving seats than to try to explain to my family why it’s kind of a crappy thing to do (and make someone else do).
So if you go into a movie theater, and it’s mostly full, and there is an empty seat in a good position because the guy who was sitting there, with his friends, got up to go to the bathroom, you’ll sit there, and fuck 'em?
I was being obtuse, I was using reductio ad absurdum. What’s the lowest acceptable limit for you? A one-to-one ratio of savers-to-empty-seats? And who makes these rules?
What about saving places in line outside the theater? Can you get there early and save a spot for your spouse? For 12 total friends?
You made it sound like you’d walk up to a seat, someone would say “that’s saved” and you’d sit down anyhow.
Some people seem to be flaming you but honestly, I wish I had the chutzpah to do just that. Unfortunately, I’ll need to see these people for the next 6 years of my daughters education.
I wouldn’t take a seat that one person is saving for another but with these entire rows reserved? It is so inconsiderate to the other parents to save the best seats for latecomers.
Don’t they have to see you as well? The only “reserved” seats are those reserved by management, and that should be made clear before general admission seating is offered for sale.
It is not only rude to ‘save’ a seat for someone, it is essentially incoherent. General admission means exactly that. No seats are assigned.
If people want to sit as a group, the should arrive as a group. If that means everyone has to arrive early, well, so be it. If I arrive early so as to maximize my chances of a good seat, there is no way in hell I will yield it to someone who is not even on the premises…
I also live in a community with a strong “saving” mentality. I have, in the past, attempted to sit in “saved” areas at school functions, and there was no question that at least a vocal portion of the audience treated me as “the bad guy.” At the least, attempting to occupy a “saved” seat would result in some amount of momentary unpleasantness, which I would prefer to avoid. First the saver would tell me I was a jerk. Then when the other members of the party came, they would again discuss what a jerk I was. Not the type of thing most likely to put me in the mood in which I wish to view/participate in such activities.
I also figure getting through school social life was tough enough, without my kids having to bear the added risk of having some other kids’ parents talk up what a jerk I am. My community has many cliques, and it is a good bet that if someone has an entitlement mentality that makes them think they can reserve a number of seats, they are likely to be the type of friend who will share their “outrage” with a number of their equally entitled friends. Also, to tell the truth, IMO most school functions aren’t so awesome that getting a closer seat really matters that much.
I recall participating in at least one discussion of such matters here. I don’t know that there are any hard and fast “rules.” Heck, I could imagine someone saving a spot on either side of them - so maybe 2 people could “save/occupy” a total of 5-6 seats. Then there’s the preferred practice of putting coats/purses etc on most/all of the “saved” seats - rather than a person sitting at one end of the row, with his or her coat occupying the seat at the other end. If nothing else, that informs other people that the seats are ostensibly occupied, instead of forcing them to ask submissively whether they might please occupy the public seating. And there’s a whole category of exceptions for incontinent grannies with walker, napping babies, and the like. So no, there are no firm rules. And of course no one “makes” the rules other then what is generally deemed socially accpetable good behavior and common courtesy.
But I do not believe it appropriate for 1 or 2 members of a large party to act as tho they are being noble by arriving early and reserving large swaths of prime seating, merely so the remaining members of their party don’t need to be inconvenienced by getting ready and out of the house early, figuring how to amuse themselves while waiting for the show to start, and sitting for a longer time in what may be uncomfortable seats. IMO, both the savers and the late arrivals are selfish jerks, tho in somewhat different ways.