Man on WhatsApp next to me in Theatre?

[PassingStranger]

Can't people just put their phones away and switch them off for once.🤫

Man using WhatsApp in the performance and kept checking to see if he had a reply.
How can you concentrate what is going on if your mind is on the phone.

It should be off in the theatre also.
Why cant people switch off from their phones and talking to people for a while.
No consideration for others either it's distracting.
😫

Very witty!

I would have said something to the idiot

Very rude. Did you ask him to stop it? I would have done, and gone to get an usher if he continued.

I've told people to turn off their phones before. It's better than silently fuming.
There was a guy at an opera, who clearly didn't want to be there and checked the time on his phone every five minutes. I told him to stop it. Afterwards the woman next to me thanked me.

There are so many selfish twats out there now. I have asked kids and adults in both the theatre and the cinema to turn their phones off. It is hugely distracting.

Years ago, a friend was drunk at the theatre and sat a few rows ahead of me. She kept texting her bloke and was almost thrown out by the staff for using her phone during the show as the people around her complained.

I put my phone on silent and check it during the break if I remember.

Some people are just so obsessed by their phones that they can't leave them alone for a minute. It is sad.

No I didn't.
I hoped he would just stop....
I find it awkward if you have to sit next to someone after having words.

Just can't understand why they feel the need to do it.
They should be immersed in what's going on on the stage.

Happened to me a couple of times. Ruined very expensive concerts - had to travel and stay over as live far away. Not gone to a live event since. Why don't theatres and other venues stop it?

Is he on his own?

Obviously still not ok but thinking about why…..
Maybe they are just rude but my brother has ASD and Tourette’s. He’s trying out things that he’s not done before. He recently went to see wicked on his own (bugger as I want to go). I would imagine him using his phone as a kind of comfort blanket/tool if he became overwhelmed. Obviously he should leave but I’m not sure that he would be brave enough too! (I don’t know that he does do this but might ask off the back of this as it’s not a ‘rule’ that I have thought to mention).

No he was with a woman

Phone addiction is a real thing and I can be just as guilty of spending too much time on mine but I am making a conscious effort to reduce the time I'm on it.

I really don't understand why some people think this is acceptable though, we go to the theatre a lot an I always switch mine off, it's actually quite liberating

It happened to m too.
the person infront kept taking photos to post on Facebook. When the phone lit up it distracted many behind and beside her.

Theatre’s way too expensive to put up with it being ruined by ignorant gits on phones. Tell them to put it away and tell the ushers as a next step. It’s completely untenable.

I voted YABU

Even though my mum does this and it drives me mad because it’s only an hour of your life, so just put it away!

However, (as long as it was on silent) then you don’t know the reasons of why he needed to use his phone and it may have been something quite serious.

Phones are dummies for grown adults, they can't even walk down the street without having their face in a screen. Crikey you can even buy toilet roll holders with a shelf for phone's! You should have told him to turn it off.

Stop making excuses for poor behaviour. If he had something serious going on why the heck was he in the theatre in the first place?

And while they are at it, can they ban drunk, out of tune singing along. I had a concert totally ruined by someone behind me singing along very badly and very loudly to EVERY song. Out of tune, wrong words. Wrong song at one point 🤣😱.

Then he shouldn’t be at the theatre. It’s a simple rule - phones off.

At the RFH recently the announcer told us all firmly to switch off our phones 'because the light will be distracting to other members of the audience.' It worked.

Unless he’s disturbing you I wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe he didn’t want to go, plenty of people are just obligated to through work or relationships. Or maybe he did want to go but didn’t think it was very good

checking your phone and typing a text in the context of a theatre full of people isn’t a big deal really.

YANBU. Bright phone screen is very distracting in a darkened theatre. I hadn't realised just how bright they can be until a recent theatre visit.
Even if it's a few rows in front you can still see it, in my experience.

I don’t care what people’s excuses are - get out of the theatre if you can’t be in there without being on your phone. Although I told a man next to me to put his away after he repeatedly got it out to scroll and got a mouthful of abuse for my trouble so that was nice.

It is a big deal, it’s hugely distracting and disrespectful to the audience and cast. Watch TV or NT Live at home if you can’t be bothered to get off your phone.

Thankfully I've never seen it in the theatre. See it all the time in the cinema. It's like some adults are addicted to their phone, it's always adult women, never teenagers. They keep refreshing, checking sm etc until the last second possible and sometimes during the film. It keeps lighting up and is really distracting. I always think that it's sad they can't seem to switch off for a couple of hours or fully immerse themselves in a film. A woman kept doing it last week and I told the usher who approached her. She did stop then but looked a bit affronted.

It would be funny if OP was still at the theatre now updating her MN thread.

Sorry that happened. But I bet next time he thinks before he leaves his phone on just in case that crazy MN woman is sitting behind him ready to pounce 😬