At the Folk club last night, our Oldest Inhabitant (not me) was on a quiet rant about being blocked in, in your seat. He said that last time he was at Towersey, he was so impressed by the musicians managing to leave a clear alleyway for people to get in and out, that showed they were real professionals. He mentioned a couple of offenders, on other occasions, one of whom plonked his banjo case (with banjo in it) down in front of the area reserved for the disabled. In one stroke he blocked in a number of people in wheelchairs. The other, a harper, set down his harp in a nice open space in the room - everyone was crammed up in one corner. They were crammed up in one corner because the Morris Dancers were about to perform. A minute later a huge hairy guy jumps into the room with the words “In comes I, Old Father Christmas…” and narrowly escapes stepping on the harp and crushing it to smithereens. Our mutual friend the harper, seized his harp and bore it out of the way in horror. He doesn’t like smithereens.
In the pub we were in last night, it is more than a little cramped, and those with large instrument-cases tend to leave them in another room. We have to put one of the tables into the fireplace to make room for everybody.
How does it go in the States and Oz? Do you have problems with inconsiderate people leaving instrument cases in the way? Or do the wide open spaces extend to your musical venues?
Largely that. I’ve seen cases strewn about on
empty tables and chairs or stacked up in the
corner, etc. Seldom do they need to be laid in
the open. Even when there’s little space where
the playing occurs, it’s seldom busy enough on
session nights that you can’t find a free space
for cases where patrons might usually sit.
I used to go to an Irish-themed pub that I
thought was an authentic Irish hole-in-the-wall.
Then I traveled to Ireland and went to some real holes-in-the-wall.
Speaking in a more general sense, some people mainly think about themselves and their needs. They are often intrusive and not conscious of the space/safety needs of other people. They will thoughtlessly place objects where people are likely to trip over them or occupy the space that clearly belong to others. If the people are not bigger than me, I often take the risk and try to set them straight, because their parents obviously didn’t do a very good job. However, with my wife I don’t usually say a word. I just follow behind and pick up after her.
Thoughtless is the word that comes to mind. Most folks have their own areas of thoughtlessness, things that they should be working on. If I were in a room with a group of people, I would probably make sure that everyone’s creature comforts are being met to make sure that they have a seat, something to drink, a place to put their stuff, but I so often get busted on not listening to a word of what is going on unless it pertains specifically to me or my interests. My family and friends like to tease me about this, accuse me of not paying attention, and say, “Is it about mutepointe? No.” Only they use my real name.
Maybe these folks are only focusing their attention on playing music for other people to hear and enjoy.
