I posted this a year today.....it still applies!
The tweet and photo from Sunday in San Diego reminded me of one of a long-standing pet peeves: The etiquette of spectator movement at sporting events and concerts.
Etiquette: the customary code of polite behavior in society.
Ever notice how most people have no awareness or understanding of when to move from/return to their seat at an event? I continue to watch people operating in their own world, oblivious to the fact their movement is blocking the view of everyone else. Is it that hard to be courteous of people around you in deciding when to leave your seat for the restroom or the concession stand and when you return?
Baseball
I rarely get up and leave/return during an inning, certainly not during an at-bat. It's beyond frustrating to have a fan pass in front of me during a pitch to Joey Votto. When I do leave my seat, I always wait on the concourse until the half inning is finished, or at least the at-bat is over, before returning to my seat.
The Reds have done a good job of using scoreboard displays to remind fans to limit their movement during the action. The average length of a half inning of baseball is about nine minutes. Surely fans can wait nine minutes to leave their seat for the concession stand, restroom or to simply walk around.
Soccer
Soccer presents a limited number of scoring chances as is. So why get up to to leave/return while play is going on? I get the pace of soccer does not lend itself to much stoppage of action. But can't you wait until a whistle, a ball into the stands, a goal, halftime, or a substitution?
Concert
How about the frustration of the person getting up to go to the restroom or concession stand in the middle of song? Most songs are what? 4-4:30 minutes? The movement of one person from their seat or to their searcreates a domino effect. Everyone has to stand as the person moves down the row.
It seems so simple. Am I right?