Vanessa and I went to see the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and the Band of the Coldstream Guards at the Erwin Center tonight.
It had been a while since I had been to the Erwin Center, and the parking lot we always used to use has become private, and we had to drive around the block to find the entrance to the free section. Of course, it was a farther walk.
Then, on presenting our tickets, our bags were searched! I am totally outraged by this! Are they afraid some terrorist is going to blow up a few bagpipers and less than a thousand spectators?
PULEEZ!!
We had good seats, until the people in front of us showed up. It looked like another mother/daughter duo, like Vanessa and myself, but the younger was very chatty. She introduced herself right away, like she was in a Baptist church, or something, and tried to shake hands. Only minimally discouraged by Vanessa telling her she doesn't shake hands, the next thing out of her mouth was, "So...who are you going to vote for?" I was flabbergasted, and said "Excuse me?" She repeated the question. I responded that I don't discuss politics with strangers, and she subsided, temporarily. She was vaguely annoying throughout the concert--reaching up and signing "Amazing Grace" right in front of my face, for instance, but what almost got her slapped was what she did during the bands' "Tribute to America." They played a medley of all the Military Hymns. Of course, members of each branch of the Military rose when their hymn was played. When they got to the Marines, she was on her feet, looking around and clapping. Her mother tugged on her sleeve, to no effect. I leaned forward and asked, "Are you a Marine?" She said, "No," or "I wish," or something like that, and I snarled, "Then, SIT DOWN!"
~sigh~
What do they teach these kids these days?
It's a good thing the concert was fabulous, or I would have been in a horrible mood!
Good golly. I'm sure you wanted to smack her purple.
ReplyDeleteNadine
Nutcase!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like perhaps the girl was special needs, or had some kind of mental or emotional disability. It's at least a possibility, so one shouldn't be so quick to judge. In any case, I can think of many, many more annoying things someone's child could be doing other than trying to be friendly and make conversation with someone.
ReplyDeleteShe was not a child. She was in her mid-20s.
ReplyDeleteI wish she had been sitting in front of you, rather than me, because you would have been far less irritated, obviously.
Maybe she did have some sort of "needs." I don't know. I am old enough and stuffy enough that I think there are standards of behaviour. One should never annoy others unless one has to. And, one should show respect for the soldiers who risk their lives for us every day. If that makes me an impationt old curmudgeon, so be it.
Hmmm...the fact that she was in her mid-20s makes me think it's all the more likely that she did, indeed, have issues. I'm also curmudgeonly, so I'll have to say I'm glad she wasn't sitting in front of me, because I likely would have been even more irritated. But, having relatives who are mentally disabled, I would have dealt with it. Perhaps by blogging...
ReplyDeleteI agree that people should be respectful in public places. But I also understand that not everyone has the mental and emotional capacity to do so. And I would never wish a return to the days when the mentally disabled where locked away, out of sight, so as not to "disturb others."
Also, I grew up on military bases, and I really don't know many soldiers who would have taken her actions of a mentally disabled woman as a sign of disrespect.
Of course, if she was just rude and ill-behaved, that's another story. But if she wasn't...well, the world is full of people with many different levels of functioning, and they all have the right to attend a show. Curmudgeonly or not, I don't think you'd be complaining in the same way about someone in a wheelchair, or who obviously had Down Syndrome. Not all disabilities are visible.