Don’t they realise it’s annoying as fuck when I walk into a lecture hall, spot a good seat that gives me a clear view of the overhead, and ability to hear the professor clearly, and just as I’m about to plant my ass into it, someone goes “That seat is saved.” How the fuck was I supposed to know it was saved when it’s an empty seat?
As if that wasn’t annoying enough, they’re apparently saving the whole fucking row too. I can understand saving a seat for a friend or two, but a whole fucking row??? As if you can really talk to your friend on the other end anyway. I really shouldn’t be so uptight over this, but it was just so fucking annoying when it’s happened twice today. :mad:
And if one person is trying to save four seats, i will sit down in one of those seats without feeling guilty at all. Especially if the rest of the hall is almost full.
Personally, i’ve always been of the opinion that the number of seats being saved should not exceed the number of people in the group who are already present. So, basically, each person gets to save one seat. If your friends can’t be there on time, and if the place is filling up and seats are getting scarce, i will sit in one of your four saved seats.
I have a Meterology class which was packed with people on the first month. It fulfilled an upper GE requirement, and me, along with many other students, were graduating seniors who needed just one more semester worth of classes to graduate. This meant that all the desks were filled 20 minutes before class even started.
One day, some wiseass puts all his stuff on a desk, and then wanders out of the class. Someone comes in a few minutes before the class starts, and looks for a seat. The professor walks over, carefully stacks the absent student’s books and bag against the wall, and lets the other student sit in his spot.
Saving seats in classes is rather stupid. If you want the seat so badly, get your ass in it before I do! :mad:
I hate the gay seat. What’s really annoying is when you go to a movie or somesuch with a new friend, and you discover that they engage in this idiot practice. What do you do? On the one hand, you don’t want to ridicule them in public, since 1) that’s rude and 2) anyone homophobic enough to do this is going to interpret a protest as being “hit on”, but on the other hand, you don’t want to be an asshole to your fellow audience members. I generally ignore it unless it’s clear that the place is going to be packed, at which point I get up and move over next to him without saying a word. Maybe I ought to start just doing that anyway…it certainly makes for an interesting expression on the person’s face.
I don’t save seats in a classroom or meeting hall except when:
[ul]
[li]I need to sit next to a particular group of people; or [/li][li]I know the person for whom I’m saving the seat is behind me or had to make a head call[/li][li]Opal can thus find her own seat.[/li]
[/ul]
Movies, on the other hand, are a different story. I go alone more often than not, and I’ve got a problem with sitting next to total strangers. So I make it a point to go to a matinee show, put my bag on the seat next to me and sit on the aisle. Once, some asshole pulled the “gay seat” thing, and I came close to decking him when he mouthed off to me after I asked him politely to move.
What’s a gay seat? I’ve never heard of it before either.
See, it’s not so much the saving the seat that bothers me but the fact that there’s no indication that the seat is saved. If there’s a backpack, or a jacket, or even a binder there, I realise that perhaps the person just went to the washroom or the vending machine and will be back eventually. It’s the empty “saved seats” that agravate me.
I agree with the idea that you should only save as many or fewer seats as you have people already in attendance. I don’t mind it so much at the movies when a group will sit down and then most will get up to use the bathroom, grab some popcorn, or whatever. I do mind it when an entire group of 4 is still on I-95 somewhere and one guy is saving a block of seats.
The “gay seat” is when two people go to a movie and refuse to sit in adjacent seats because that would be “gay”. They leave an empty seat between them: the “gay seat”.
The “gay seat” occurs when two guys/girls (though I’ve only ever seen guys do this) go to a movie, or some other event for which there is an audience. The first person sits down, and the second person, instead of sitting next to him/her, sits one seat over, thus leaving a seat in between them to assure the rest of the audience that they are in fact not gay. Crucial facts overlooked by those who indulge in this practice:
Most people do not care whether or not you are gay.
Even if they did, most people will not assume you are gay based on the fact that you’re sitting next someone of the same sex.
While the “gay seat” certainly leaves no doubt that you are not gay, it also sends an equally clear message that you are two varieties of asshole: a homophobe, and a person with no regard for the rules of proper seating ettiquette.
If you see anyone performing the “gay seat”, and you are of the appropriate gender, just go ahead and plop yourself down in between 'em. Very satisfying, and it gets them every time.
Oh, so that’s what “the gay seat” is. Thanks for explaining; I was baffled too.
But now that you’ve explained it, I’m not necessarily sure that Roland is right that it’s for the benefit of the rest of the audience. I can see how a guy wouldn’t necessarily be comfortable sitting right next to another guy, with only a thin armrest between you: you might, y’know, inadvertently touch :eek: each other. Or at least invade one another’s personal space. It’d be kinda like if a guy took the urinal right next to the one you were using.
That could well be. I wouldn’t know. I do have a friend who will do this at the movies, if there isn’t much of a crowd, but he does it so that we each get the use of both armrests; nothing to do with gayness, or lack thereof. If the place starts to fill up, he’ll move back over with no problem.
Hell, half of everybody in high school thought the two of us were gay anyway, and we didn’t care then; why would it possibly bother us now?
We jokingly called it the “hetero” seat and only used it when the theater wasn’t very crowded. This was back in the days before stadium seating and it was just more comfortable to have a little more space.
Some friends and I went to see Jurassic Park on opening weekend. While piling in the theater some jerk was attempting to save almost an entire row by putting stuff in the seats and then lying across the remaining seats. This pissed a lot of people off and one of the managers was called. I was to far away to hear the conversation though I could tell the manager was miffed as well.
