The incident that made me realise people have no manners today!

When my husband and I went to see Carol last weekend, we were expecting a romantic date night. Instead, I was shocked by the rudeness of our fellow theatre-goers!

Kevin* made an effort to book our movie tickets in advance, even phoning the local theatre to pay ahead. We were mindful that Sunday was Valentine’s Day, and that movies would be a popular choice.

So we arrived at the theatre with 45 minutes to spare, and collected our tickets from the prepaid box office. We also got a small box of popcorn to share, and joined the queue.

Although there weren’t any formal queues marked out, at least thirty other people were already lining up outside Cinema 2 in an orderly fashion.

Even more considerately, this group of thirty had queued up closest to the wall, allowing other theatre-goers to move about.

I thought to myself, “Isn’t this nice?” Even in the absence of the normal ropes and barriers, people had managed to show politeness and patience. Or so I thought!

Kevin and I had been waiting in line for half an hour, when we noticed two or three people saddle up to the front of the queue.

They obviously weren’t properly in line, instead they just hung about the front as though that was their rightful place. After a few more minutes, another few people joined them.

Before I knew it, there were at least 12 people bunched around the top of our line, as though they had been waiting there all along! They actually formed a second queue, right alongside ours!

I wasn’t the only theatre-goer who noticed this rudeness. “The queue is actually here, folks”, one man said. “We’ve all been waiting near this wall for about half an hour”.

The newcomers just stared blankly at him, and even turned their backs, pretending not to hear. In a move very unlike myself, I piped up too! I was mad, and not having any of this business!

“If you wanted a better seat, you should have arrived earlier”, I scolded them. “Nobody likes it when others push in”. My comments earned a few nods of agreement from the people around me.

Even so, the newcomers just looked down at their phones and didn’t retreat to the back of our queue. They just stood firmly in place. I mean honestly, how rude!

I don’t know why some people feel like they are more special or entitled than others. Is it just herd mentality, which allows people to think they can get away with behaving badly?

When the theatre doors were eventually opened, needless to say the “extra” group of 12 people rushed forward. They eagerly chose the best seats for themselves, despite everyone else who had been waiting patiently.

I should say that not everyone in that “extra” group of newcomers was young either. There were one or two women aged in their 40s, a man aged in his 50s and an older couple.

Even though Kevin and I did eventually secure a seat in the centre rows, we were disappointed by the rudeness and greediness we’d observed.

Was getting a “top spot” really worth so much, that some people would show total disregard and impoliteness to everyone else?

I wonder what values people believe in today… That it’s okay to step over people in life? That you don’t need to show respect to older people, or even offer common courtesy?

Carol itself was a wonderful film, but this incident reminded me that people truly have no manners today. Grr! Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Tell us about your experiences: What’s the rudest behaviour you’ve ever observed? Have Australians forgotten their manners? Do you enjoy visiting the cinema, or have you seen people behaving poorly too?