The Needs of the Few
I was coming down the marble staircase of the Concha Segura Theatre in Yecla when it happened. A group of people suddenly stopped in the middle of the staircase for a chat, apparently oblivious to the thirty or forty people held up behind them. My polite ‘¿Perdón? ¿Puedo pasar?’ went unanswered. They didn't stay long, but it set me off and made me wonder whether there was a blog post in the rich, untapped vein of things I don't like. I started a list. People in supermarkets who finish packing their shopping before even thinking about looking for their purse or wallet. Theatregoers who arrive at a performance and seem completely baffled by the concept of numbered seating. Odd numbers on this side, evens over there; the first row is, surprisingly, row 1. See the pattern? And then there are the latecomers who arrive after the film has started and stand in the aisle discussing where everyone is supposed to sit. Often they have torches. Of course, we Brits can be just as bad (or wor...