Bad Football Day

Florida State lost tonight. It was a terrible game. It felt like the battle of the field goals and how many interceptions can FSU throw in one game. In addition to losing my family had a disturbing altercation with a fellow season ticket holder.

Our family has been buying season tickets since I graduated from FSU in 1993. We now have 10 tickets in our block and have basically been sitting around the same people for years. Last year these two young men had tickets in front of us and they came to the games and never really interacted with anyone around them. We all know one another and socialize during the game and buy/sell tickets from each other as needed. The fact that they haven't interacted with anyone isn't really a big deal. It isn't a requirement but most of each know each others name, etc. Anyway, tonight when we got to our seats one of the young men had his portable chair half way off the seat. FSU has not upgraded our stadium to stadium seating because we would lose seats and thus would lose revenue but what ends up happening is that a lot of people bring these portable seats and they end up taking up not only their seat but 1/2 of the seat next to them. Mom politely asked him if he would move up his seat so she could sit down. Reluctantly he did but when he sat down he proceeded to lean back like it was a recliner. Well her knees were right in the back of his seat. Had he not had this seat he would not have been able to sit like this. He would have had to sit up straight like the rest of us without portable chairs.

After the first quarter I heard him ask his friend if "that lady is going to keep her knees in his back during the entire game." I dismissed it because evidently he didn't' realize that not only was he taking up a 1/2 seat beside him but this chair allowed him to recline! During halftime he turned around and with the most ugly voice he said to my mother "Are you going to keep putting your knees in my back!" My Mom said right back to him "Sir, you are in my space and I haven't said anything to you so yes I am going to keep my knees right here. They have no where else to go!" He proceeded to prod on and on about how nobody's knees are in the back of the people in front of them but he didn't realize that he was causing his own situation. Not only was he terribly wrong but he was being incredibly rude to my Mother! I was about to say something to him and my brother-in-law spoke up and explained to him that he wasn't going to talk to his family in this manner and the problem could be easily solved if he sat up straight like everyone else. He proceeded to use expletives and this is when I spoke up and told him that my Mother wasn't trying to intentionally put her knees in his back and that he and his seat were too far back. Then I told him that he was being extremely disrespectful to my mother and how would he feel if someone was talking to his mother in this manner. I even called this person "Sir" and was using my calm voice. All this being said he STILL DIDN'T GET THAT HE WAS WRONG! Well, he couldn't admit he was wrong because during the rest of the game he sat up straight.

Honestly, I think that he thought that he could talk to Mom in that manner because he never thought that she would say anything to him but it shocked him that she defended herself. Then he couldn't back down and admit he was in the wrong. Pathetic. I was so angry that he would even dream to speak to anyone the way he was talking to my Mom. I could feel my blood pressure in my throat and my let was going up and down like crazy. Honestly if he had continued I have no idea what I would have done. I just wasn't going to let this moron continue to berate her for something that he was responsible for. I don't enjoy this type of confrontation. I prefer to work things out amicably but when you are having to deal with irrational people it makes an amicable resolution difficult.

Between the outcome of the crappy game and this self absorbed seat hogger it made me rethink our decision to go to the game. We should have just stayed at the mall and shopped!