which is worse: stinking like weed or texting in a theater?- Page 2

[broadwaycat3113]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 1:02pm

both are wrong and rude. have some consideration for other people when you're in a situation where being in close quarters with someone else is a must.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 2:05pm

Neither of them should be happening. I would prefer to sit next to person texting, though. With texting, the phone's light goes on and then off soon, when finished. With an odor of any kind, it stays for a long time. Somebody can force a person to stop texting, but you can't force a person to stop smelling a certain way.

[winston89]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 2:11pm

I do think that texting is bad due to the fact that the light can bother more people than an unpleasant odor. You can be sitting in the middle of the orchestra and the light from the phone can be seen all over the place. Whereas, while the smell of smoke be it cigarette or pot does smell, it will only bother the person sitting next to you.

I am a smoker however, I am considerate of the fact that I am doing something that is annoying to most other people. There seems to be a lot of smokers who will light up regardless of what the people around them think of it. If you ask me not to smoke in front of you and I just lit up a cigarette. I would put it out without a problem. This is why I always carry either gum or a thing of tic tacks or some other breath freshener with me when I go to the theatre. I have found that it does a good job of masking the smell of the smoke and has minimized the number of people complaining that someone right by them ( me) smells of tobacco.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 2:15pm

I hate to break to smokers as I hear the "mint" explanation a lot, but you all reek of smoke. As careful as you claim to be, it is in your clothes and hair and comes out your pores. Also those with a reasonably good sense of smell will always smell a smoker regardless of what you do other than quitting.

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 2:47pm

Texting 100%. People have such a sense of entitlement about their electronic devices (cell phones specifically) that just shocks me. They seem to think that as long as they aren't actually talking on the phone that they aren't doing anything wrong. Stupid people bother me so much!! Though I personally don't think there's anything bad about the smell, others apparently disagree. In the future I'd suggest baking it into an edible, such as a cookie. That way there's no smell and you'll be coming from a much stronger place when telling off the rude audience member (as he won't smell anything on you).

[jamoca5]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 2:50pm

Personally, I don't really mind the smell of pot that much. Not saying that it's okay for smokers to smell like what they've smoked, but it's much more tolerable than someone texting in a theatre. Not only is texting distracting for everyone sitting around you, but it's plain rude for the performers on stage, as well.

By the way, what show was so unbearable that you had to be high to see it?

Updated On: 5/30/10 at 02:50 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 2:55pm

I think both are wrong. I also wonder if you had already seen the show and felt that you had to smoke to get through it again? If it was your first time, I don't see where there was a need to smoke pot to "stomach" a show you hadn't seen yet.

I am a smoker. I usually have a cigarette before a show. I know people can possibly smell it. I try to have one a half hour before going into the theater and when I smoke at intermission I actually stand in a direction so that the smoke is blowing away from me. I do carry mints also as here in Denver I always end up in several conversations at the theater.

[DvnMichael]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 3:03pm

I work as a box office/house manager and have to deal with complaints like this all the time...The issue is that with cell phones you can just scare the patron and tell them to put it away and they usually will. With odors...there's not much you can do except move the person who has the problem...I've seen it listed on many different theatre etiquette lists not to wear strong cologne or smoke before entering the theatre...I think any time you're going to be in close quarters with other people it's just a simple courtesy.

I believe both are sins of the theatre...along with opening candy wrappers, coughing unnecessarily...and one of my biggest pet peeves is FOOD...and drinks besides water. This is not the movie theatre, ladies and gentlemen.

[singtopher]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 3:12pm

The texting is worse.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 3:20pm

You go to a "tourist show", ya gotta deal with the a**holes.

I once saw CHICAGO during Christmas season...holy mackerel the audience! It's a little hard to scold a fellow audience member about texting when half the audience is texting, taking pictures, getting up and going to the loo in the middle of an act, etc.

I just think it's hilarious that you went to go see THE ADDAMS FAMILY and thought, "Oh jeez, I need something for this".

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 3:47pm

Cheaper colognes do a job on my eyes. I don't wear cologne to the theater. I actually stopped wearing it all together. For me, cologne is worse than cigarette smoke. And even as a smoker, I can smell it on other people. Pot smoke, for me, is really annoying on a person in a theater and I have sat next to people who have smoked pot prior to a show.

[mallardo]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 3:52pm

The thing is, the weed smoker is oblivious. He's the last person who's going to notice the smell.

[quizking101]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 3:56pm

I'm a BIG cologne user. I don't smoke. But whenever I wear some to the theater, it's normally faded by the time I arrive, so I never had a problem.

TEXTING IS DEFINITELY WORSE. Some people just love to create animocity with the people around them. I was silently scolding someone during "9 to 5" and they just kept texting through the entire show...D!CK

Pictures are also a mega pet peeve of mine. At "Rock Of Ages", this guy behind me had a large 35mm camera (no flash - like a professional photographer). And all through Act I, it just kept clicking and clicking until intermission when I finally reported him to an usher, who promptly confiscated his camera and all of his equipment...but I digress.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 4:06pm

When i saw Grey Gardens the two guys infront of me were drinking beers...then chewing and spitting into their empty bottles... i wanted to vom

[TIGGOSAURUS]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 4:09pm

Neither party is completely blameless but I think stinking of WEE would have been far worse....

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 4:20pm

Whenever someone pulls their cell phone out next to me or close to me, I approach the person and tell them that i will get an usher. I have even asked people sitting next to me who are still texting as the lights ar going down if they plan to use their phone during the performance and if they are, I will get an usher at intermission. Luckily, our ushers don't put up with it and will approach people. Especially before a show when people are taking pictures. They held the second half of a show I attended because someone reported another patron who was filming the show. They waited until the person got back to their seat, late, and escorted them out. The best is when I went to see the Beatles "Tribute" show "RAIN". There was a woman in the 5th row filming the first half. I could see her from my seat. When the second half started the guy "playing" Paul McCartney broke character after the 1st song and asked the woman if she got everything on film during the first half and then commenced to embarrass her a bit asking if she did not hear or just ignored the announcement before the show. She put the small cam back in her purse and the ushers approached her after the show.

[wickedpoppinsfan]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 4:40pm

They're both worse, but if I had to choose, stinking like weed is worse, because you have to deal with that the whole time in the theatre, and it sucks, while texting is like 3 times throughout the first act, and I can deal with that (its annoying_ but its not like its stuck for the whole show.

[winston89]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 7:04pm

Just like uncageg I am careful about when I smoke before going to the theatre. If I am going to have a cigarette before a show for example, I will try to have it a good bit prior to me entering the theatre that way I don't walk in there right away smelling of cigarettes. I also tend to make sure that when I am smoking during intermission the smoke isn't being blown directly on me and I will move away from the other smokers so I don't end up smoking within a cloud of other people's cigarette smoke.

mallardo is right in that the original poster doe seem to be a tad clueless that they did something wrong.

After thinking about it I feel that there is a difference between something that is an inconvenience and a distraction. Someone coming in smelling of either smoke or cologne or something of that nature is a bit of an inconvenience. It is annoying for sure, but it isn't going to totally pull you out of the moment of the show. A distraction would be someone texting and having their light shine so brightly that even if you're not sitting right by the offender. You can still see, without any problem the light illuminating from the cell phone.

[ivanguy]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 7:55pm

Regardless of what you think about my pot smoking - it's been a fun debate!

I saw A Behanding in Spokane today and I did NOT smoke weed outside the theatre before the show - this time, I smoked before I got on the train down in Soho so I had time to air out before curtain! LOL! No disrespect to theater at all - I'm a big fan and have seen most shows high - you have a martini before a show? I smoke a spliff. I like to get smoke pot - is that a crime? Oh yeah, it is. Anyhoo ... I will now be more respectful of my marijuana stench ... I'll make brownies next time!

Who wants one?
Updated On: 5/30/10 at 07:55 PM

[Scott Briefer]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 8:26pm

Smelling of weed when going to the theater is inconsiderate. Texting during a performance is a crime. I believe it should be punishable by immediate ejection from the theater. Better yet, I think theaters should be equipped with blocking devices making mobile phones useless. I am so over people who don't respect the theater.

[RKO Legend]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 8:32pm

I couldn't agree more. I hate when people text during a show. If you can't turn your phone off for the duration of the show than stay the hell home. No one is going to miss you that much if you turn your phone off for the duration of the show, you aren't that important!

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 8:36pm

I have to say I actually like both the smell of weed and the smell of cigarettes (and I'm only a smoker of one of those... ), but I can see how it would be annoying for someone who's not a smoker or who is offended by it for whatever reason. Just spray yourself with a little bit of cologne (not shower yourself in it) before heading out of the apartment and that should do the job. For those of us who are ridiculously exaggerating and saying that the smell of weed stays in you forever, you are incredibly ignorant. The only way I can imagine the smell lingers for such a large amount of time is if you're smoking in a very tight and enclosed space. Either way, I don't think you could ever compare the smell of weed to something as rude and inconsiderate as texting in the theatre.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 8:45pm

I saw A Behanding in Spokane today and I did NOT smoke weed outside the theatre before the show - this time, I smoked before I got on the train down in Soho so I had time to air out before curtain! LOL! No disrespect to theater at all - I'm a big fan and have seen most shows high - you have a martini before a show? I smoke a spliff. I like to get smoke pot - is that a crime? Oh yeah, it is. Anyhoo ... I will now be more respectful of my marijuana stench ... I'll make brownies next time!

Who wants one?

^A**hole^

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 9:12pm

Kinda makes you miss the days of top hats and capes to the theatre...

Reggie's bringing that look back.


I would much rather smell pot or cigarette smoke (although I'm pretty sure I often smell like both of those despite not smoking either...) than perfume or cologne and would certainly prefer it over a texter.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 5/30/10 at 9:51pm

Ivanguy, no offense, but instead of using your money to buy theatre tickets, maybe you should get some help. Sincerely, I mean that with no disrespect.