Creatures of Habit

As a teenager I worked in our local theatre–popcorn girl–as did my sister, my cousin, and my aunt before me.  When someone would come in and ask if Jane Doe or Joe Blow would happen to be there I knew a.) If they were there and b.) where they were sitting.  Obviously since I was the popcorn girl I knew what sort of refreshments they bought.

"Tom? He’s in the balcony, left side, about halfway down. Hilda is midway down, right hand side, near the wall." And so on. Tom usually got a dime bag and a large root beer.  Back then a dime bag was popcorn.

The same seating scenario applies to church goers.  Oft times whole families will occupy the same pew each Sabbath.  The Hatfields will be in the third pew from the rear on the left. Meanwhile the McCoys will be in the fifth row from the front on the right.

And Bingo players.  Let me warn you about them. One time Mr. Lucky and I were enjoying a breakfast buffet that was used later for bingo.  Apparently we lingered over our coffee a bit too long.  A couple of bingo players made it abundantly clear that we were occupying THEIR SPOT for bingo.   It must have been their lucky spot.

Don’t get the idea that you’ll be allowed to sit just anywhere at a Senior Citizen’s hangout. Oh, no.   Think again.  Some seniors make bingo players look like whimps.  For that reason Mr. Lucky and I don’t play bingo, especially with senior citizens.  We're afraid to. 

Because we don’t have a 45 foot motor home complete with a washer and dryer set up when we are on the road I require the use of a laundromat.   Interestingly the same "spot possessiveness" occurs in laundromats.   I use 3 or 4 washers and I want them to be all in row with dryers in close proximity. None of that skipping about all around the room.  If fact, if there doesn’t happen to be the required number of washers all lined up like I want them to be, I’ll skip laundry for an hour or so and wait it out.  I have noticed this to be the case with most everyone else.

It’s been years since we have been to a drive-in movie but thinking back we always seemed to park in the same area. Close to the snack bar and in a spot with good speakers....not those scratchy sounding ones.
So the next time I have to attend a funeral I am going to switch it up a bit and sit somewhere other than the first available row in the back of the chapel.