by Jackie K. Cooper
Last night I went to a movie in Atlanta. This was a family film and I was there to review it. The theater was pretty crowded and you had to pass through security before going in. They did all those things like checking women's bags, running the wand over everyone, and then telling you to turn off your cell phone.
That is all well and good, but once the movie started the cell phones came out. Why, I do not know. I guess people are checking to see if they have messages or something like that. Anyway, the lights from those phones are like beacons in the night. Ships could find safe harbors relying on those lights.
In addition to the lights, we had the crying baby. This kid started crying about five minutes after the movie started. Now I don't blame the child. He/she might have been hungry, wet or whatever. But the mother just sat there jiggling the baby up and down. People finally started hissing at her, so she took the baby out -- for about five seconds! Then she came back with the baby still crying.
The baby cried on and off until about ten minutes before the movie ended. That is when someone on the theater's staff came down and asked her to leave. As she went up the aisle, people broke into applause. She turned around and looked at the crowd and said, "(Expletive) you all!" Now, isn't that a nice comment for her to say in front of her child?
The amazing thing is this lady obviously thought she was in the right. She didn't care that there were a couple of hundred people in that theater having their entertainment disrupted by her child. It was all about her. She was there and there she was going to stay.
Let's look at another side of the issue. What was the responsibility of that theater? Shouldn't they have asked the lady and child to leave sooner? Shouldn't they monitor to see how many cell phones light up in a theater? Is it up to the fellow patrons to monitor the situation?
I don't know about you, but I sit there and fume in silence. You say something to somebody these days and you are liable to get shot. My mamma didn't raise a fool. I leave it to management to do the dirty work -- and they should!
The problem is we live in a "me, me, me" society. We all think our problems are the most important ones. We think our pleasures are the only ones. We live in a world that says get out of my way and don't bother me. If I have some spare time or some spare change I will deal with you, but feeding my needs is paramount.
You could counter with the generosity of the American people in the recent hurricane tragedies, and people have been amazing. But those are special circumstances. I am talking about ordinary life. Day to day, this is a "me, oh, my" world.
I like to think I am an optimist, but I'm afraid I am becoming a cynical optimist at best. The world is too much with me when I see rudeness, crudeness and egocentric attitudes everywhere I turn.
Jackie K. Cooper was born in South Carolina and now lives in Georgia. He is the married father of two sons and the proud grandparent of a boy and a girl.
He is familiar to people living in the middle Georgia area as the "entertainment man" since his entertainment reviews run in newspapers and are shown on television there. His short stories have also been used as commentary on Georgia Public Radio.
Cooper has lived an exceptionally interesting life. Portions of it were contained in his first book JOURNEY OF A GENTLE SOUTHERN MAN. Now the journey continues in his second book titled CHANCES AND CHOICES.
and be sure to visit his excellent web site: jackiekcooper.com.
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