THIS JUST IN - WHITE PEOPLE LOVE NEIL DIAMOND!

...OK, so maybe this isn't news to anyone, but it's still worth mentioning. 

I went to see Neil Diamond a few days ago at the Hollywood Bowl. For those of you not familiar with the 'Bowl, it's one of the finest venues in the L.A. area. It's an outdoor theater nestled in the Hollywood Hills. The acoustics are such that the quiet moments are truly quiet, and the loud parts are crystal clear.

The down side of the 'Bowl is that it's, for the most part, bench seating. Which means the only thing that defines your seat from someone else's, is a number etched into the wood. There are no elbow rests or butt-curves to help separate you from your neighbor. 

We had arrived a little late due to traffic and so the lights were out and Neil was on. Our seats were dead-set in the middle of a row of forty people. After wading our way past the many older, whiter, couples just sitting back and enjoying the show, we finally found a teeny-tiny little break between two...large...fellows.

There was barely enough space for me to sit down, let alone the two of us. We had to, literally, squeeze ourselves onto the bench. I heard a few cues of distress and disdain from those around us as a ripple of activity moved down the row and into the aisle. In order to fit ourselves into the seats we had paid for, we had to dislodge a few dozen people. It was at the same time uncomfortable and embarrassing.

I spent the rest of the show sharing much of my exposed flesh with the gentleman to my left. If he was Alaska, I was Canada (insert Palin joke here). This isn't the first time I've been in this situation, and I doubt it will be the last. However, I think it's important to note that if you find yourself sitting in a shared, public space with poorly defined boundaries,  please keep in mind your fellow attendee has as much right to comfort as you.  It is not inappropriate for him/her to ask you to make some room and I encourage you to ask those around you to do the same.

I believe that had those to my left continued pressing those to THEIR left for more room, the whole of us would have enjoyed a measured amount of personal space. Instead, I was made to feel as though I was some sort of no-goodnik. A rude so-and-so who was asking more than I had a right to.

Of course, this could all have been avoided had the Hollywood bowl reduced the number of seats on the bench by one...just one! But that's another story all together.