TODAY... 9/12/09 @ 9:35pm

I settled in comfortably into my soft, recliner-like movie theater seat prepared to enjoy "Inglorious Basterds." During the previews in the row in front of me a man in his early 20s seated with a woman in her early 20s preceded to editorialize during and after every preview to this woman in a casual conversation tone, loud enough for me to make out most of his stupid comments six seats away. His comments were along the line of "oh this one's really good watch...oh I didn't know he was going to be in that one!...oh sick!!!" and so forth. Then once the movie started and the opening line of the film scrolled across the screen, the man laughed loudly. And he preceded to make little side comments to his girlfriend/date during the quiet but heart-racing opening scene until a character answered another character's important question in a quiet, subtle tone, and because the man in front of me was talking at this point (commenting on the action which took place on screen less than 60 seconds before), I missed this key point of dialogue. And THEN, I hear him say to his female companion "What'd that guy answer? I missed it."

Yes sir, you did indeed miss it, and you caused others to miss it, and I assume your female escort missed it as well while you were jabbering in her ear so why the hell would you waste more time asking her what was said on screen when she obviously missed it as well? Your questioning just annoys your fellow theater goers even more, and prevents you yourself from hearing even more of the film, during which time you could probably listen closely and deduce what was said previously, thus righting the world and allowing your movie going experience to precede uninhibited.

During this experience, I realized that this man is the 20-something equivalent of my high school students who choose to react to classroom events, and make their comments to each other, and then miss the following events/directions because they were spending their consciousness re-living and commenting upon the past 30 seconds, and thus they miss the events of the present. So when they then shout out (stopping me and the rest of the class) "What just happened? What'd you say?" I reply "I'm not stopping the class just because you are a crappy listener and can't focus."

This student may have been asking another student for a pencil or paper. They may have been asking a fellow student the directions for the assignment, which they missed because I wasn't loud enough or perhaps I mumbled. Or, perhaps they legitimately have ADD and really had a hard time focusing and didn't hear my directions clearly. Regardless, it seems that by replying with "You're shit out of luck you missed it, now moving on..."** I'm reinforcing the need to be quiet, attentive, and focused in life at all times, in order that this generation won't become the next generation of douchebag movie talkers.

**This quote is not verbatim, and I'm happy to clarify directions at appropriate times for any and all students.