At the opera yesterday, there was an unusually large group of uncivil opera goers. First there was the man in front with his cell phone lit up. My husband politely asked him to turn it off. Then he was talking loudly and the man on the other side of him asked him to shut up, but loudly. Then the man, who was tall, got up and left his seat, causing the doors to open and the sunlight flood in. There was an uncommon amount of coming and going during the opera, and each time my eye was pulled to the sunlight outside as the doors were flung open and shut. I think everyone had baseball fever or acute attacks of claustrophobia or perhaps Mozart is not to their liking.
And at the end, after beautiful effort and execution of the complicated opera, a hoard of people arose before the curtain to close and blocked the view to the cast. They not only were not applauding, they were getting the hell out of dodge so they could save one minute in the parking garage. They didn't clap even one time; it was as if they'd seen a movie and the cast before them was a cartoon, instead of real, sweating, breathing people who had given their all physically and vocally.
What arose in me and my husband, and the two ladies sitting next to me was an almost irresistable urge to throttle these people. Where has civility gone? We were all in this opera interprise together, except these jerks who were in it for themselves, and seem to ignore the engagement and interaction that makes opera or any other live theater so lively. Why didn't they stay home and listen to a CD with a drink in hand, saving gas and and the enragement of those of us who wanted to be fully present for the event? It's a mystery to me.
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