AIBU… Genuine mistake

[LetsGoOutside]

What is the done thing when this situation happens? it was a genuine mistake. Picture of seats attached so you can see our thinking.

We have not been the pictures in over 5 years. Took the kids yesterday. Booked what we thought were back seats, they look like back seats on the pictures.

Film starts. Lady, Man and their child approach us. She says “You’re sat in our seats move.” My husband said “I don’t think we are, opens his phone to find the tickets.” I said what’s the seat number, I check both ends of the isle and they only say numbers not letters. So I came back and said I don’t know what to do. My husband said I’ll go and ask one second. The woman is getting more annoyed by this point. I said he’ll only be a minute. She said you need to move now, I said I can’t move both kids, all our food on my own it’ll only take a minute we genuinely think these are our seats. She starts pointing in my child’s face, whose three, saying move him, he’s in my son’s seat and he’s autistic. It’s my child’s first time at the pictures, it’s dark and there is a strange woman pointing at him telling him to move. He gets upset. Not that this is relevant but I felt like saying so, son is autistic too! Anyway husband returns and says yes we are in the wrong seats. We both apologised while moving the kids and our things.

I understand I was wrong, it was a genuine mistake though, look at the picture would you think these are back seats? Or if you go the pictures a lot is it obvious and we’ve just been really silly. 😂 I genuinely thought we were in the right seats and did everything we could to resolve it quickly.

AIBU would you have moved two young children under 4 if you thought you were right?

No silly, because you hate other people eating in the cinema, even enough it’s perfectly normal behaviour in a public place. Nobody cares whether you personally eat or not in the cinema. However this is also completely irrelevant to the thread so let’s leave it there.

I don't mind if they're quiet about it but they so often aren't Rustling, crunching, faffing about, using phone torches to see what they're doing.

I have to say ive never "stuffed my face" in the cinema. Ive eaten the nachos and hotdogs as one might eat say a lentil and quinoa crumble - just normally

What is it on mumsnet about eating/not eating in the cinema.

Eating in the cinema is a completely normal and acceptable thing to do. In fact cinemas rely on the income from the food. It’s a whole part of the experience for the vast majority of people.

It's also horrible, particularly those venues which serve burgers in the cinema. Is it really impossible to go 2 hours maximum without eating?

Do you eat in a theatre?

Ive never been to a theatre that served food you can take to your seat, but why not in the ones that allow it?

And not that it makes a difference but films often go on longer than 2 hours, then you have the trailers that can go on for about 20-30 mins.

Im like a snake I can go 24 hours+ without eating. But I do enjoy a dirty little portion of cinema nachos or a hotdog, washed down with a beer.

It’s definitely possible to go two hours without eating, but the eating is intentional. It’s part of the cinema experience.

If it wasn’t socially acceptable and the norm, they wouldn’t sell and encourage you to eat in there.

Yes I would eat in the theatre, the literally sell sweets to eat while you watch the show.

I mean, it’s possible to go several days without food. You’re conflating needing with wanting. I say that as someone who doesn’t eat anything in the cinema - it’s totally normal for people to eat snacks watching a film.

I’d assume back row from that pic too purely because disabled seats in my experience are always at the front. It’s the cinema’s fault for not adding letters to the rows. The woman was obviously also out of order.

I don't think there is the slightest chance there was no lettering on the rows.

Nobody comes out of it well as far as the other patrons were concerned. Mistakes and misunderstandings happen though.

I used to work in a cinema and we had more issues with families than we ever did with pissed up teens.

Snacks while you watch the film

no big deal, you know for next time. the other woman has to live with her anger issues permanently, be grateful for that!

Absolutely agree, they make more from selling the food and drink than anything else.

Only on MN are people expected not to eat in the cinema

If it had been the other woman posting, everyone would say this OP was a CF!

I made this mistake recently - only realised when the cinema worker asked me if I meant to book the front row seat! then he kindly switched them for me as the screening wasn’t full. Easily done.

um, no. If you look carefully you’ll see a couple of the centrally placed seats have a wheelchair symbol on the. Clue.
if you’re not used to them, these maps can be confusing. You need to look “screen” or “stage” to check for orientation.

I agree that it does look like the back row, I’ve also made that mistake.
my local odeon has the wheelchair spaces at the front (I’m a wheelchair user) so when I went to a different one (like yours with recliners etc) I was really pleased because while I thought I’d booked for the front (where the wheelchair normally goes) it was the back row and I didn’t get neck ache! lol.

You wasn’t being unreasonable at all. You fully believed that they were your seats and she was bloody rude.

I am not saying it would necessarily be the same, but A isn’t always front row. If you’ve been somewhere that A / AA is back row then the Odeon seating could be unclear.

A is clearly the front and your tickets had the letter and number on as do the seats or floor at the end of the row. You are in the wrong and should have moved when the other person showed you their tickets. Nobody should be getting in a 3 year olds face shouting though.

Why would a cinema not have the rows clearly labelled? People would be bumbling about during every single screening. It’s far more likely that the OP made a mistake as she does seem to make mistakes.

That’s funny because our local cinema when you book online the screen is always at the top of the image! And it does say ‘screen’ in big letters! Whilst it is normal for row A to be at the front it could be ambiguous in the image OP has as nowhere does it say where the screen is. Whoever’s mistake though the lady was very rude

It does have a big screen at the top that says odeon though

I would have been confused because a to me says front row but why would wheelchair spaces be at the back?!