The woes of selecting seats.

Thursday: Point of View

As mentioned in the post Next...!, I went with my husband and son to see Avengers: Endgame (2019) the weekend it opened. When I learned it was three hours long, I dreaded it. That's a long time to sit in the theater. However, our air conditioner chose that weekend to go on the fritz with outdoor temps around 97°F, so (like I mentioned in Weather) I was happy to sit in the nice cool theater for three hours!

I gave it a thumbs up (plot holes, sure, but still entertaining), my husband gave it a thumb sideways, and my son gave it a thumbs down with an asterisk... *his view of the movie was tainted by his frustration with the seat occupant next to him... a wiggly toddler. Yes, toddler, who did everything except sit still while the parents ignored the child's behavior for the duration of the movie.

Made me think of a post I wrote several years ago, Outtake: Picking your seat. Here it is:


When we were kids, one of my brothers saw a man pulling at the back of his pants and quipped, "That guy must be going to the movies... he's picking his seat."

There are some theaters that make us select our seats when purchasing tickets. The first time we experienced this, it was not good. We selected our seats on the computer screen by looking for the green chairs (available) in the midst of the red (taken), but when we arrived inside the theater, we discovered that a huge guy filled not only his own seat, but also half of my husband's. And as I stepped over to my seat, I felt a slosh beneath my feet. A noisy child behind me had spilled an entire bottle of water (thankfully just water). I spent the duration of the movie trying to keep my feet dry.

So I think if theaters (and airlines) insist on people selecting their seats at time of ticket purchase, they need to provide detailed information on the screen. The seat map should indicate things such as:

Row F Seat 14 - Reeks of cheap perfume.

Row C Seat 6 - Crying child.

Row M Seat 12 - Addicted to texting.

Row S Seat 4 - Hasn't bathed in a week.

Row P Seats 7, 8, 9, 10 - Talkative group.

Row N Seats 12 & 13 - Needs to get a room.

Row G Seat 3 - Flatulent Freddy.


When you select seats, what information do you wish the chart included?