Life Musings

I was at a Jodi Benson concert on Saturday night, which was a lot of fun. It ended on a sour note, though.

After the concert, an elderly woman chewed me out viciously because I was eating inside the pavilion at which the performance was held. I explained that I didn't know this was prohibited, but she snapped back, "Don't tell me you didn't know! They've got signs all over the place!"

I thought that was viciously unfair. First of all, there weren't all that many signs posted; in fact, looking around, I only noticed one. Second, who hasn't failed to notice a sign now and then? Who among us hasn't missed the occasional speed limit or stop sign while driving, for example? It was grossly unfair of her to assume that I did indeed see the sign, and that I was just deliberately ignoring it.

Heck, when there's a huge crowd of people, it's easy to miss things like this--especially when those people are rushing to find their seats. Didn't that ever occur to her?

Besides, this wasn't a classy stage theatre with marble floors and ivory bannisters. or anything Rather, it was a rather simple, unpretentious edifice -- basically, just a bunch of seats and a large roof, as a friend of mine put it. It never occurred to me that food would be prohibited in that area. Heck, my friend had been there before, and she had no idea that eating was prohibited either.

What's more, there were concession stands right beside it, selling popcorn, hot dogs and the like. With food stands around the entrances, it's only reasonable to presume that people could eat there. This was an erroneous presumption, as it turned out, but a reasonable one.

I don't mean to be disrespectful, but... this old lady was a real bitch. I take great pains to respect my elders, but that doesn't mean that I welcome their abuse.

To top it off, she chewed me out by saying, "You're wearing a Christian t-shirt! You need to act like one!" Well, what about you, madam? Are you being Christ-like when you berate a total stranger angrily, and in public? Whatever happened to diplomacy and gentle correction? Heck, do you even know what the Bible says about being "slow to anger," or how "a soft answer turns away wrath"?

At least I have honest ignorance as an excuse. You don't have the same recourse, ma'm. How do you excuse your behavior?