Characters you meet at a Movie Theatre

Many a times when you walk into a movie theatre, you encounter more drama than you had initially signed up for. You will more or less come across these characters, wherever you go. 

The Popcorn Santa: You are so happy and excited to be watching this new movie and you are also wearing this really nice outfit and having a nice moment with your friend but oh look, it's starting to rain popcorn on your parade. Not only that, sometimes you will see it is raining fried chicken on you. If you are one of those people who storm through the aisle with popcorn dropping and drinks spilling everywhere, please learn to take care of yourself AND your food. 

The Cry Baby: Might not be a baby at all but a kid of around eight to ten years or even a preteen. He will whine because he has to and take a trip to the washroom every 45 minutes or so.  This little person will relentlessly hop on the chair because he just wants to annoy his mother. He'll noisily eat his spiced potato chips and then accidentally rub his eyes so that all hells break loose when the hero is just about to propose the girl of his dreams in a low, gushy voice. 

The Whistler: I don't know what works behind this. Whistling in many cultures can be seen indecent and it's something we fairly associate with eve teasing, just to be more negative but to many, it could also be a harmless expression of fun and even appreciation. Whistling when the heroine decides to marry one hell of a loser hero is o-k-a-y but when a mother has lost her baby? Maybe they really are just applauding the acting skills of the crew, but I wouldn't give them the benefit of the doubt.

The Phone-O-Live: How many different ways and how many times people should be advised to put their phones on silent in a movie theatre is sometimes beyond me. Even if it's an emergency, one must have the courtesy not to invade anyone's personal space with that but no, people will answer calls in the theatre and badmouth their tailors or loudly complain about how stock prices have hit the lowest since they had started dating. I sometimes raise my glass of cola and toast to that. Free entertainment, all right. 

The Off-Screen Pair: It's no crime to come to the movies with whomever you like. It could be an important date for you but there's too much sticky on-screen romance to be digested already. It gets exceptionally uncomfortable when you discuss things like you-know-what in public. If not for what people think, for the sake of respecting your partner's privacy, don't get too cosy with him/her. 

The Optimist: It's good to be appreciative of the dialogues, the movie or life in general. It's also okay to go overboard when something is brilliant but applauding or laughing out loud is highly inappropriate when let's say, we find out that some poor astronaut has been left on a hostile planet all by himself. Laughter might be a good therapy as they say but please don't disregard location and timing. 

The KewlZz: Lastly, you need to to stand up when the national anthem is being played before a movie. 

Shame on us if we cannot spare a couple of minutes to show respect to who we are.

Dyuty Auronee is an occasional fusspot who loves her tea and authori-tea. Reach her at dyuty.r@gmail.com.