Theater of the absurd

We don't go to the movie theater very much, and that's for several reasons.  For one thing, most of us, if we want to hug and kiss, we have a whole house in which to get all silly.  For another, most of the movies today are not of interest to both of us; I wouldn't be happy sitting there at a Twilight picture or an all-singin'-all dancin' extravaganza version of the life of Ronald W. Reagan, and Peggy is not about to be seen emerging from any screening room where Johnny Knoxville's image had recently cavorted across the screen.

But the biggest thing that keeps us walking right on by the Googolplex 28 is the behavior of others in the place. People regard movie theaters the same way they regard their own living rooms, which is to say they sprawl out all over the seat and the one next to it, shoving chicken wings down their necks, chomping on Goobers and yakking away on their phones. It ruins the evening for others, not that they care.

But here's someone who does! Kyesha Smith Wood is an Alabama woman who dropped off her teenaged daughter, step daughter and son at the movies to see "Cinderella." Her son later told her that the girls were rude and disrespectful to a woman who asked them to knock off the noise while she and her family were trying to enjoy the picture.

So, Ms Wood took to Facebook and asked, admittedly as a longshot, that the woman come forward to identify herself.  She mentioned that the offended lady had told the kids her husband had just been laid off, and so they would not be able to afford a night at the movies for the foreseeable future.

But, they will, because that lady, one Rebecca Boyd, came forward as the other party.  And Ms Wood says that she and her husband want to treat the Boyds to another night at the cinema, snacks and all, and that the money will be coming out of her girls' allowances.

My first reaction is that Ms Wood's kids are going to grow up with a clear idea of what is right and what is wrong.  Hurray for her!

My second is that, this summer, the Hank Williams bio movie is coming out, and so is "Ted 2," and no one better act up while I am there.  I guess I should drive to Alabama to see them, down there where these things are taken seriously.