I remember when I was a young kid, I sat in a movie theater watching That's Entertainment with my friend and her family. Bored, I fiddled with my candy, and after unwrapping one too many pieces, my irritated friend's mom snatched it all away from me. Silence was restored. But with adults who don't know each other, restoring silence in a theater can take an ugly turn.
Such as it did last week, when a man trying to enjoy the symphony in Malmo, Sweden couldn't take the sounds of his neighbor's scrunching gum bag any longer.
The man grabbed the stranger's bag of gum and threw it to the ground. The gum owner sat quietly for awhile, but suddenly had a burst of anger and, after whispering something to the person she was with, began to hit the man in the face multiple times, knocking his glasses right off his face. Then the woman's friend joined in, throwing punches at the man.
According to The Washington Post:
“It was very unpleasant actually. I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Olof Jonsson, who was sitting in the row behind the brawling patrons. He described the salvo from the woman and her ally as a “violent attack.” At one point, as the tension seemed to ease, the woman’s companion walked toward the younger man as if to converse with him, but then punched him in the stomach.
Other patrons intervened, establishing a cease-fire.
Since then, the concert hall published an etiquette list for people planning to go the theater, which includes resisting the urge to bring snacks when going to a symphony. From the Washington Post: "While it is 'wonderful to sit at a hockey or football match and drink a beer or coffee and eat little snacks,' it cautioned, this behavior doesn’t suit 'a concert hall with world-class acoustics.'"
Image: Donostia Kultura/Flickr
