Worst Thing about Going Out in Public — People!

Over the weekend, we attended a public concert of a military band.  The band was outstanding.  What wasn’t outstanding were the idiots we had to be around to do it.

They chose a very bad venue – for parking, for access, for seating, for acoustics.  But, we all endured the lousy parking, the very, very long line to get in, and the broken plastic bleacher seating to be able to hear the concert.

What many of us did not expect was the absolute rudeness, selfishness and idiocy of so many of the attendees – especially the twenty and thirty somethings.

We had to stand in a very long line to get in.  Many of the people were very elderly, walking with walkers and canes.  By the time the line wound through the parking lot, through the cafeteria and finally to the gym, a line of 12-13 years olds, guided by a mother, cut in line and nearly knocked people over.

When we finally found seats, we noticed that the bleacher seats were a bit broken and they were very uncomfortable, but we really wanted to hear the concert.  Getting older and not having a back rest is difficult at best.  Unfortunately, our seats were next to a group of people who had the idiocy to bring small children.

During the first half, a little boy jumped up and down on the floor and the bleacher and it was like living through an hour long earthquake – with sound effects.  Several of us asked the parents to control their child, but they could have cared less.  Directly next to me was a toddler, about two, who fussed and cried and was handed back and forth between people for the entire first half.  She had dirty diapers and the stench was just charming.  The mother wanted someone else to take her so she could cuddle with her boyfriend and rub his penis… hey, the lights are on, we can see you!  Behind me, the little girl decided she would only sit on the floor of the bleacher and kept reaching across to the adults she didn’t know and untying their shoes – the mother would laugh about it each time.  This was highlighted by a girl about 8 in her bright pink High School Musical outfit, walking back and forth in front of us about every 5 minutes and leaving the gymnasium by herself – and people wonder how kids get snatched…

The second half of the concert, several of us moved away from the kids as best we could and several actually left.  The toddler was purchased a pack of Junior Mints which they shoved in her mouth through the entire concert.  The shoe attacker no longer had shoes to attack, so she started whining.  And, a young woman was there with a professional camera set up and every time she would move to take a picture, her 5 year old would thunder after her and screech to a halt.

Not one of these adults seemed to have any concern for the people around them or for their children.  I was horrified.  I can’t even imagine what little demons they are going to grow up to be.

Oh, the tickets were free and for full disclosure they weren’t worth enough for me to give them a better review than this!