Me, Myself, and I

 

The exact date that my "change in how I looked at going to large crowd events " happened, I could not tell you. I used to adore big crowds, in fact, the more, the merrier. As I have aged, perhaps, I have become less tolerant of being seated elbow to elbow with total strangers. Then add in their talking during the events and using their cell phones? It is just too much for me to deal with and enjoy the movie or concert anymore. 

Luckily, for my husband and I, we have discovered a wonderful movie theater that shows most of the movies that we wish to see on the big screen.It is small and intimate with seating that is not on top of one another. There are very wide arm rests between the seats, and only 6 seats in a row for the most part. Positively, there is no way someone behind you can place their feet on the back of your chair to annoy you, unless perhaps they are NBA professionals that are 7 ft. tall. 

We have seen most of our movies at this movie studio and so far the other viewers are all courteous. Most every other place has not been like this. Talking and texting for the most part, or taking over the arm rests, leg space or kicking the back of my chair is my usual complaint. Only once, did we witness a fight break out with security being called in to haul the miscreants away. Some of the other patrons were yelling out to urge the fighters to continue on and I can tell you that it was quite scary. Needless to say, this venue is no longer in operation. 

Let's move on to another issue for me,which is attending concerts with very small seats and leg space. It seems to never fail that one of us gets a seat beside a very large person, who not only takes up their space but part of ours also. Example: last night a very polite man was seated to my right. He could have been an NFL professional based on his size. I must say that he was very nice and continued to apologize for taking up so much room. He had to stand up in order for others to pass to gain access to their seats, even though our row was one with wider leg space. 

There are three other venues in our city that we go to for plays and concerts and the two of us know which seating is best suited for leg space. Most
large cities have  a sports arena that doubles for a performance space for top selling artists. When this happens you have a few choices:  
1. Skip it and enjoy the cd/dvd in your own home.
2. Have priority seating before the major public so that you can have a good seat, albeit on top of each other along with everyone standing and waving arms while singing along.
3. Get the nosebleed section and take a pair of binoculars.

 My husband and I have been lucky enough to see most all of the great performers that we have wanted to see. The ones that come along now tend to play in smaller venues where we know the rows or box seats to get. (That still doesn't always take care of the person sitting beside you, yet it is better than not seeing artists that we want to see and hear.)

The truth of the matter is (and this is a bit hard for me to actually admit) that some of the performers that we love to go and see are as unknown to the Gen X, Gen Y and millennials as their favorite performers are to us, for the most part. That (to quote Bruce Hornsby) is just the way it is. I find it hard to explain who Michael McDonald  or Crosby, Stills and Nash is to some of the younger generation. Really? Just as I am sure that they are amazed that I have never heard of some of their number one artists.

The one outstanding piece of news that I have noticed is that when it is truly good music it transcends through generations. Once introduced to a good sound, you are sold on it.