Atonement

Ok, I've had to let over a week pass before I could tell you this story without getting mad again. Last Sunday my girlfriends and I hired a babysitter and went to the theatre to see "Atonement". This was the first time I used this babysitter and I was a little antsy that everything would be ok. C has also given up naps, so I knew he could possibly be a handful. Anyway, upon entering the theatre I (like a good citizen) turned the ringer off on my cell and set it to vibrate only. Because I have my ringer turned off, I do occasionally open my phone to make sure I have not missed any calls from the babysitter. I do this about every half hour. My cell phone is not bright when opened, I have it on the lowest light setting. Ok, so anyway, when we chose our seats, I was on the end of our party with one seat separating me from a woman and her husband. After about a half hour, I open my phone (very quietly) to take a peak and did see that a call did come from home. While I was closing my cell and getting up to excuse myself outside to call the sitter back, the woman next to me said in a very loud voice "Mam, your not supposed to be on your phone in here!!!" I just rolled my eyes and excused her crabbiness and didn't think much of it.

All was well at home and I re entered the theatre to take my seat. As I was sitting down, I noticed this woman was watching me like a hawk and giving me the most obvious glares. I leaned next to my girlfriend Dana and gave her a "what's that lady's problem" sort of look. About a half hour after that incident, I needed to check my phone again. This time I pulled my purse onto my lap (worried that maybe the light from my phone was brighter than I thought) and barely opened my phone inside my purse. Before I even could see if there were any calls, I jumped when I heard the lady yell "THAT'S IT!" and she stood and stormed down the aisle while her husband sat glaring at me. Now I'm starting to get irritated. By this time, I have lost my focus on the movie and have become more interested in this lady's problem. After about two mins, she walks in with a movie theatre usher, stomped up the aisle and stood over me pointing at my head yelling "THIS WOMAN RIGHT HERE!!!!" Then leaned into her husband an said loudly "I WENT AND TOLD THAT USHER ABOUT THIS WOMAN WHO KEEPS TALKING ON THE PHONE!" I am not being a bit over dramatic by saying this woman was being very disruptive herself. In fact, her actions were starting to annoy a lot of the patrons around us! The usher stood and looked at me for about five mins and then left. It was ALL I could do to keep myself from taking the low road and opening my cell phone as soon as that usher left, just to send this woman off to crazyland (where she obviously came in from to see this movie).

So the rest of the movie, I stewed, trying to come up with the best way to tell this lady off as soon as the lights went up. Usually I am pretty good about letting things go, but not this time. I RARELY hire a sitter and go and see a movie with girlfriends. I was out $20 bucks for the sitter, another $7 for the movie (which I had no idea by now what was happening) and $3.50 for the bottle of water I bought from concession. I don't know if being married to a penny pinching Scotsman has started to wear on me, but wasting over $30 dollars because this woman had anger issues certainly warranted a talking to by me.

So the lights went up. I grabbed my purse and stepped toward this woman who was still sitting. I intended to say "Mam, I am sorry you felt the need to harass me throughout the entire move rather than just minding your own business." However, I only got as far as "Mam, I am sorry" before she yelled back at me "absolutely not. what you did was unacceptable!" First of all, I cannot believe she thought I was sincerely apologizing to her and secondly, If I were, I cannot believe the reaction she gave to what she thought was a sincere apology. I tried to explain to her that I checked my phone because I have a two year old home with a sitter since my husband has been deployed overseas for over a year. Her response to that was "Oh, what a convenient excuse" I can't go into detail about what was said exactly afterward because I literally went blind with rage and the incident ended with my girlfriend Dana yelling in my defense as well and my other girlfriend Lindsay pulling me away from this woman that I unknowingly started to lean closer and closer to while she held up her purse higher and higher towards her face.

The funniest part of the story is the irony. The movie was titled "Atonement" The dictonary defines Atonement as meaning Amends or reparation made for an injury or wrong. Well, that woman and I failed miserably there!

Like I said above, I had to wait a week to post this story. I could barely tell R this story a few days afterward without tears. It now makes me laugh. I, of course keep coming up with better things I could have said to her. Hind sight is always 20/20. I'm sure I could have handled it better, but my anger got the best of me. If you were in that situation, what would you have said??? What would you have done??? I would love to hear.

Have a great week everyone!