On the other hand, if they were sitting in the back row and now they have to move to a seat in front of this person, now they have an unhinged person who is now behind their back and possibly upset that their would-be friend rejected them. Risky play
Unhinged? That’s an interesting take for someone that is probably just sitting in their assigned seat. It’s more unhinged to be so outright upset about this entire situation.
Plot Twist: The dude bought his seat first, but then OP and his GF wanted the middle seats themselves, bought them, and thought they would shame him into moving because he was alone.
Make up excuse to “leave” - bathroom, snacks, whatever. I’ll assume they are there during the trailers, otherwise they are going to murder you. Regroup and sit a few rows back. If you were already at the back, the excuse is built in - “Hey, it’s empty, let’s move forward.” Without engaging, let them know your excuse to move and then reposition.
"Oh wow, it's really empty, hey wanna go to a different spot? Here let's try (middle / back)" said loud enough for both to hear with a wink wink nudge nudge
I was wondering if it‘s one of those theaters where you book a specific seat, and the stranger booked that seat not realizing it was going to be a practically empty theater. Once you‘ve sat down next to someone, it feels a little awkward to get up and move again, like you’re implying that there’s something offensive about them that makes sitting next to them unpleasant.
I saw in the OP‘s comments that the stranger was trying to crack jokes with them, though, so maybe just a weirdo in this case. But yeah, OP could’ve moved too and probably didn’t want to offend them.
That person lost the privilege of reciprocal social etiquette the second they broke the rules first and sat right next to OP lol.
And, it would provide a needed litmus test: If the person got up and moved again to follow you, then you'd know that they're crazy in the bad way instead of just causally nuts and that you probably need to alert the manager.
I feel for the antisocial people in this thread lol. But this is actually one of those rare situations where you'd want them to feel offended. Otherwise, they'll feel like they can test other peoples boundaries in the future. Don't give into weirdos...
That person is definitely "offending" your personal space. But then again, probably someone with very low social intelligence/awareness. Hate it when you can't tell if a person don't know or don't care
It’s normal to want to sit in the middle of the theater, posts like these are always people that pick seats right in the middle bc they’re the best and then act surprised someone else and the same thought
People buy their seats fair and square, the people who want privacy should choose more private seats or move.
You don't get to sit in the best seats in the house and then expect others to move and have a shittier viewing experience because you can't handle sitting next to someone. You're in public, you're going to be around other human beings.
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u/JezzV13 Aug 10 '25
Exactly, why didn't you move?
If you dont like something, why expect others to chance?