To be fed up with parents ruining school shows by taking pictures all the way through.

[Spidermama]

I sit there fuming at what should be a lovely occasion. I have three nativity shows to go to this year and I'm dreading the usual scenario of lots of parents holding there noisy, bleepy, flickering digital cameras up in the air clicking and flashing.

Would you do it in a proper theatre? NO.

It's high time people learned to enjoy the special atmosphere of live events without feeling the need to capture and own parts of them.

Cameras intrude too much in all areas of life. I do love having pictures, but over-zealous snappers ruin the intimacy of moments by feeling compelled to record everything.

An instance which particularly annoyed me was when DP and I were on holiday this summer; we'd just walked a few miles up a beach to the very end of the island on which we were staying, just in time to see the most incredible sunset. I would have liked us just to stand there and watch it together - that would be a lovely memory. DP of course insists on getting the camera out and snapping continuously, so now the memory is of DP frantically trying to get the best shot, and of how saddened I was that he couldn't just enjoy it with me. The photographs don't capture it (sunsets and views nearly always look awful in photos), and anyway, the photos now trigger a memory of being irritated at DP!

The Olympics this summer really highlighted the silliness of constant filming/photographing. At the opening and closing ceremonies, pretty much all the athletes (and crowd) had their arms aloft, holding their digital devices, and were watching proceedings through the video on their mobile phones and cameras. I'm pretty sure the film they have looks crap, and I'll bet their enjoyment whilst there would have been increased if they hadn't been watching it all through a lens.

YANBU - they are the pits - we have the really pushy ones that turn up ULTRA early, save all the front row seats for their cronies, and then proceed to set up tripods... So they are not going actually to watch anyway - just tape and watch the digital version later.....

God that winds me up too. My DD's was at 2:15 this week. DH and I arrived at 1:30 (after learning the hard way the year before) to find all but the back row full! DH however helped himself to 2 chairs from the back and placed them at the end of the front row! . All but 1 person in the front 2 rows already had their camcorders poised - pathetic.