Letter: Rudeness symbol of arrogance that got us into war

Friday, Aug. 27, 2004 | 8:58 a.m.

Several weeks ago I went to the 10:30 a.m. showing of "Fahrenheit 9/11" at Sunset Station. I chose my seat in the front row of the second tier right behind the railing so that no one could sit in front of me. I was a few minutes early and settled in, content with the realization that I could concentrate on the film.

Wrong! Four minutes into this excellent documentary a couple walked in and of all the seats available chose the ones directly behind me. They immediately started to talk loudly back and forth. I turned around and gave them a look. They kept talking. I turned around again with a "shhhsh" and asked them not to talk. They ignored me.

I stood up in front of them and in a calm voice asked them to please not talk during this very important film. The woman, not the man, said, "We'll talk all we want and you can't stop us." No, I couldn't. But I had paid for a ticket and had claimed my seat first. They could have sat anywhere else in the theatre. But no. They chose to be rude and ignore movie theatre etiquette, even after a polite request.

To avoid a scene and avoid missing even another moment of this excellent film, I was forced to get up and move down to the next tier only three rows from the screen. Not a comfortable option, but the only one under the circumstances. My experience was just another example of the dumbing down of America. Rude, ill-mannered people, incapable of civilized behavior, have sadly become the majority. This arrogant, "me first, my way or the highway" attitude is what got us into an unjust war in a faraway land. And if this arrogant, rude behavior continues, we will be fighting among ourselves on our own turf in the not-too-distant future.

LINDA SCHRICK