Major drama at the symphony...

So we've just gotten settled into our seats in the performance hall last night when another season ticket holder couple comes in and are supposed to be sitting in front of us, but someone was already there. Lo and behold, their tickets were for the exact same seats. The ushers were called for assistance. They told the people with the non-subscription tickets they would have to move - they refused. Ushers threatened to call security. Interlopers still would not move. Everyone around me was gasping and commenting. I think they actually would have called security, except that the concertmaster came out just then and started tuning the orchestra. The subscribers were whisked to other seats, and the performance began.

Let me start on this next part, by saying that there must be a special place in hell reserved for people who cough during symphony performances...especially those who do so repeatedly. Anyway, last night was no exception - and I am really easily distracted, so all the coughing was really detracting from my enjoyment of the Rachmaninoff. So then halfway through the second movement, I was hit with an attack of acid reflux that caught in my throat and I knew I was going to have to cough. A lot. So I had to dive out the side door quickly so I could take care of things. There was seriously a good 5 minutes of coughing and water-drinking needed before it calmed down. But then I had to just sit in the lobby and watch the rest of the piece on the monitor...while the people at the bar and coffee kiosks prepared (LOUDLY) for intermission. Now, I totally understand needing to stay out of the hall once I left, but you can imagine how it felt to sit in an uncomfortable chair watching the performance on a small, fuzzy monitor with horrible sound, with all the noise around me...while all those coughers I mentioned earlier were still in their seats enjoying everything. And I had really been enjoying the view of the pianist from my (expensive) seat in the hall. I had to wait for a good 25 minutes...and then the pianist came back and did an encore, which I also missed...sigh. I was fine for the rest of the performance, but you can imagine how bummed I was, especially since concertos (or is it concerti? I never know) are always my favorite part of symphony performances.

So that's that - today it is snowing so I plan not to leave the house (though I did go to yoga this morning). Today's schedule includes some kind of bread (TBD at the moment), butternut squash soup, a barley and mushroom casserole, some sock knitting, and wrapping and putting away our old "everyday" dishes - which I finally replaced last weekend. Still quite a busy day. And we all know C is going to be shoveling today, right, because I am still in significant pain from the last shoveling job.