23B (1 of 2)

Today's rant:  Ushers And Other People Who Think You Are A Freakin' Idiot.

This one has been simmering all through my trip, but hit a fever pitch when I got on the plane coming home.

You see, I go to the theatre a lot.  In America.  And here, every time you walk into a theatre, there is an usher waiting to escort you to your seat.  Now, SOMETIMES, very rarely, the usher will ask if you need help finding your seat.  I appreciate these folks.  I generally respond with something along the lines of, "alphabetical order, right?  I think I can handle it" and head off toward my seat.  I'm proud to say I always get it right, too.  But mostly, the usher will escort you to your seat, apparently on the assumption that figuring out that row N is the one directly behind row M is just a little too difficult for most people.

And when I was in London, I realized this isn't a worldwide phenomenon.  At each theatre I went to in London, I was actually expected to find my own damn seat.  Sure, there was generally someone there to answer any questions I might have, but, mostly, I was left on my own.  It isn't really HARD to find your seat:  rows are clearly numbered, seats are clearly numbered, and before you even ENTER the auditorium, there's generally a "seats 1-15 to your left/seats 16-30 to your right" sort of sign.

And I thought, "How WONDERFUL!"  Isn't it nice that someone actually assumes I'm smarter than a potted plant?