On one hand, I can sympathize with the frustration that the wheelchair-user must have felt. I’m a wheelchair-user myself - I know that sometimes mobility & transportation issues can occasionally cause lateness problems. I imagine that these problems must be multiplied if one has to rely entirely or in part on human assistance.
The thing is, if I know that I must be somewhere at a certain time, I take special pains to make sure that I’ll get there promptly or (preferably) early. If it means I’ll probably be at my destination an hour early, I just take a book, newspaper or other diversion.
In other words, I sympathize with this woman’s plight, but them’s the breaks.
They are sticklers about their schedules, and as I recall state pretty clearly both that no latecomers will be admittted and that they don’t do refunds. I understand why your sister and her companion were upset and frustrated but ::shrug:: even the handicapped need to follow the rules.
But whether they’re fully abled, or in a wheelchair, or nearly blind, or deaf, or whatever, people should understand that many types of live performances don’t seat people while the performance is underway. This applies especially to stage plays, orchestral and chamber music performances, opera, and the like. (And people who talk at the theatre, as all Firefly fans know, go to a special hell, but I digress.) So I’d advise your sister, and this woman, to check on policies ahead of time.
That’s an unfair assertion to make based on the little information provided. Who knows… it might have been completely the wheelchair bound person’s fault they were late. Until more is provided, we really can’t be a good judge.
The point is though that during a trail run, the woman did not get to see what she went there for. It’s her own fairness in assigning guilt that’ll determine if TonyF’s siter will remain in her employ.
On an unrelated note, I attend a lot of training classes in my role. The most common start time is 8am in part because the training is done downtown and 9am would be a hellish time to try to get there no matter what part of the city you are coming from because traffic hits the peak at 8:30.
After my 1/2 hour commute, I usually arrive between 7:30 and 7:40am, grab a bagel and wait for the class to begin. And invariably, at 8am the instructor will look at the class list, count the number of folks in the group and then announce that she’ll allow another 15 minutes for latecomers to arrive. Oh, that burns my ass. The start time clearly stated EIGHT O’CLOCK. Why should the people who were responsible be penalized by having them wait another 15 minutes to cater to the idjits who couldn’t get their asses in gear?
If you’re late for a play, that’s you own fault. However, I do agree that if you paid for a seat, they shouldn’t re-sell it, be it a play or an airline. Though why a person would want to watch a play after the first two acts is beyond me.
I can’t speak for this specific theatre, but most theatres I’ve been involved with (either as a performer or in some other capacity) have very specific and clearly stated policies regarding refunds of tickets: a) patrons need to be a minimum of 15 minutes early or they will release your ticket, and b) there are no refunds. It’s a shame she wasn’t able to get in at intermission and I’m very sympathetic, but the sightseeing should have been wrapped up earlier.
There is not enough information here to make that determination. Granted, she dropped the ball in this particular case, but one mistake does != incompetence.
I just wanted to say that last weekend I went to see Hamlet. The intermission came 1hr.50 mins into the play. I can’t believe that it would be a viable alternative to allow someone in at that point. It just wouldn’t be worth it.
On the other hand, it’s not the cinema, it would have been disruptive to the actors if some of the audience were not in their places when the play started.
We arrived at the theatre 30 mins. before the start to ensure we had a drink pre ordered for the intermission ( ) and everyone was seated for the beginning of the play.
I doubt that I will ever see the Royal Shakespeare Company again and I am grateful that I was able to see it it with a well behaved (punctual)audience.
Special arrangements for the handicapped should accomodate only what is necessary to accomodate. She couldn’t have been expected to make it up a flight of steep stairs, for example.
It is not a lack of compassion that prompts me to take this attitude. It’s assuming that most people with handicaps don’t want needless concessions made for them. It’s a matter of pride.
She wasn’t late because she was in a wheelchair. She was late due to a lack of realistic planning or because of traffic problems, etc. – the same things that cause others to be late.
As an actor, I hate getting all prepped for the opening curtain only to hear, “We’re holding because Bob Millionaire Seasonticketholder is still smoking outside,” or some such, and I wind up standing backstage wondering whether I have time to run and pee or if it’s safer to stand there with my thumb in my ass rather than risk missing my cue.
If you’re more than five minutes late, you shoulda left earlier.
It depends. If I’m an architect and the first building I design collapses 6 weeks after construction is finished, killing 500 people, I’d agree I was incompetent. OTOH, if that same incident happened to, say, the 256th building I designed, and there was no previous history of failure, I wouldn’t say I was incompetent. I would say I had a lot to answer for, but that’s another matter. In any case, in this instance, I’d say it’s unreasonably harsh to call the OP’s sister an incompetent assisitant based solely on this occurrence.
of course in your chosen analogy, the situation described in the OP fits your first scenario (ie the “first” test and you blow it, vs. the “256th” test w/o failure).
on the issue - yes, I would agree that a good learning experience was had. When dealing with tickets set for a specific time, it’s a good idea to arrive before the time stated vs. afterwards (certainly the OP wouldn’t be outraged at an airplane or train that had left on schedule), and definately find out the specific practices of the venue involved, especially if it’s one’s job to insure smooth sailing. Let alone if there’s a potential for specific issues (such as a disability).
What the flying fuck are you talking about? He wouldn’t have any involvement with the story if not for this woman, so it’s not selfish of him to mention her. How is this selfish anyway? He’s not asking for sympathy for himself since he didn’t gain or lose anything. The story wouldn’t exist without the woman in the wheelchair. And your analogy doesn’t make any sense. But at least your asshole skills kicked in and prevented your emotions from being engaged. :rolleyes:
Too bad they weren’t going to see Al Jolson. He used to refuse to go on stage while there were empty seats in the house. Theatre managers had to hunt up passers-by to sit in for no shows.
Which all makes me ask, surely with the vagaries of public transport, road systems, breakdowns, ill health and whatnot wouldn’t you expect that out of thousands of expected theatre arrivals some will be late? I recall after 9/11 hearing lots of stories about people who “but for this” would have been on one of the planes or in one of the buildings. In fact Olympian Ian Thorpe had returned to his hotel room to get his camera (having already been to the WTC) when the plane struck.
I don’t know why the people in the OP were late - it’s not specified.
Let’s say they had left early… but their plane was delayed? Does that make the sister/assistant incompetant? Does it make either irresponsible? To be fair, it wouldn’t make the theatre responsible, either.
It is possible to be late without it being anyone’s “fault”.
) and everyone was seated for the beginning of the play.