To ask people to move seats at the theatre

[Homemoans]

My 6-year son really wants to see a play of one of David Walliams on Saturday, the only seats they have left are on the front row but they are 5 seats apart. WIBU to buy the two tickets and ask the 5 people sat in between us to either move up or move down?

Would your DS be happy sitting a few seats away from you? If so, you could book and accept that he may have to sit in the seats you have booked. The people inbetween may offer to move - I probably would be happy to. But I think YWBU to ask them.
If your DD might make a fuss, don't risk it!

Livia do you think that being asked politely if you mind moving one single seat across in a theatre is comparable to someone demanding that you stand for an hour on a train so that they can have your seat? I'm amazed. I just honestly don't see where the inconvenience is. Clearly it's a crazy big deal for some people but I honestly don't get what's so difficult or inconvenient about standing up, shuffling a few inches to the left and sitting back down. Obviously we are assuming that there are no changes to visibility etc.

Because they should have booked in advance. If I book a ticket then that is the seat I want. If someone cba to book early enough then tough.

If I go to book but there are no suitable seats, i don't go.

I wouldn't expect someone to move for me so I wouldn't expect them to ask me to move

I am shocked and appalled that moving 18 inches more central in a theatre is such an inconvenience for so many people! I have never come across such mean spiritedness in real life OP and I think you would be very unlucky if you did in the theatre. What a depressing thread!

I've been to the theatre hundreds of times and have seen this happen lots. People look a bit at first but once they figure out that they're getting a better seat they usually don't mind. But you couldn't guarantee it so I wouldn't go if it had to be a guarantee.

I'm surprised the theatre have allowed single seats to be left, they usually don't for this very reason.

I have never had to ask because I either book a seat I want or I don't go

I have NC as this makes me sound stalkerish!!

I just googled this as my DS would love it and I wondered where it was on. OP you might want to double check as that screen shot is for available seats on Friday at 7pm, your original post said you wanted Saturday

It's not mean or stubborn to want to stay in the seat you booked in advance and paid for, especially when for people like me and pp, we have anxiety as such that moving one extra seat IS a massive fucking deal.

Great for you if it isn't, you go off and be all smug, but for some of us, this is our life and it's unfair of someone else to put upon us like that because they weren't organised enough to book more in advance than a few fucking days before the show.

I would absolutely move in this scenario.

I wouldn't book though, as no guarantee. Also the point made upthread about front row not having great visibility is a good one

NavyandWhite Bully for you.

Because they should have booked in advance. If I book a ticket then that is the seat I want. If someone cba to book early enough then tough.

Right. So it's just an opportunity to be awkward then really. Because one seat to the left is not a worse seat. So you would just be doing it to make a point. Such a shame. Lots of people would see it as an opportunity to do something very small and of no consequence to themselves, to make a stranger's day a little bit easier.

Not really. If it meant moving one seat so that a little boy could sit with his mum I would do it.

Good for you. I wouldn't, for reasons already outlined; it would cause me too much stress and ruin the entire show for me. It's not fair for someone else to do that.

@WhatToDoAboutThis2017 I have anxiety too and I can usually imagine my way into ANYTHING being an anxiety trigger but I'm struggling with this one. What about it would make you anxious? (Not being goady, I promise - just genuinely interested!)

I work in a theatre box office.

To everybody saying people would probably move - believe me, people can be extremely fussy about where they sit and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if they said no.

Which then leaves you in the awkward situation of not being able to sit with your child. Which, depending on that theatre's policy, may not actually be allowed.

Please contact the box office as they may have access to booking seats not visible on the website.

peachgreen I like to know exactly where I'm sitting. If that changes, particularly at the last minute, it would cause me a whole world of panic.

I do not like change, and anything changing, particularly when things are prebooked, is a major trigger for me.

WhatToDo with the greatest respect, I think your response to being asked to move seats is very extreme. Obviously if that's down to anxiety then it's a genuine response for you. But given that it's so extreme I don't think it's fair to say that OP would be unreasonable to ask this. For the vast majority people it would not ruin the show or be stressful.

So the screenshot isn't of the seating the day the OP is thinking of going?

ArtemisiaGentilleschi my daughter's middle name is Artemisia - i love that name! totally misses point of thread

I have done this exact thing before. And the other people were more than happy to move up one seat. We asked very nicely obviously :)

Ratatatouille That's fine, but anxiety is a hidden problem that people try to hide even in these situations (because as shown here, people don't understand it) so OP could quite easily be putting someone in this situation and she'd never know.