Do You Object To Sitting Next to a Man?
When you take your seat as a cinema you know that when the lights are out, you’ll be transported into another world where anything is possible. It would be only you, the characters acting on the big screen, and whatever you are munching on while the rest of the world vanishes and ceases to exist. Going to a movie is supposedly a relaxing and therapeutic activity of mine. Yet there are days when the movie is almost starting and you are ready to let go of the real world when a woman, and its always a woman, makes a big fuss regarding the allocated seating because it would mean she would be sitting next to *big gasp* a man!
One day just as the movie was starting there was a commotion in the row before us, a lady with lots children was standing on the side clearly in distress because apparently her seat was beside a couple watching in peace and that meant she might end up sitting right next to the man. A few minutes later all the seats were rearranged as the man quietly got up and exchanged seats with his wife which meant the couple next to them did the same and so did the ones next to them. Disaster averted, we were finally allowed to watch the movie in peace.
We are a segregated community by default. When the occasion arises we know automatically to head to the area filled with people from our same gender. Whether its a classroom, a school bus, an airplane seat, a dinner table, or a waiting area. If a woman finds herself seated next to a man at the movies, the man would usually get up and exchange seats without being asked but sometimes there is no escaping the fact that you are, indeed, going to end up sitting next to a man or even a kid of 11 or 12-years-old! Why would you go all the way and bother all those people, or rather make a big scene and use your loud voice in the ugliest manner, ruining everyone’s day on your way because you will be sitting in your very own chair that is placed in a chair next to a male? Is it about the touching? So take extra care not to touch him when you sit down!
Why is it that we don’t mind sitting next to a man in the cinemas abroad but we mind when we are in Kuwait? Why is it OK to sit between men in the Underground trains of London for example but its unfathomable to do so here if you have to? I have to say that I personally feel more comfortable sitting next to a woman but if I have to sit next to a man, or a kid, it will not be the end of the world to me! There needs be no scenes regarding such a matter.
What do you think? Do you mind, if you found yourself in a situation where you are seated to a male -or a female-, and if you do, what would you do and why?
