"AITA for asking a kid to be quiet?"
Hi! So I’m seeing Beetlejuice on broadway (it’s intermission right now) and there’s a kid seated next to me who proudly told me he’s in fifth grade. I asked his mom if he’s ever seen the musical before (Beetlejuice is definitely a PG-13 musical) and she said she had and it was fine.
I was skeptical about sitting next to a kid and it turns out i was right- he talked through the first three numbers. So during an applause break, I turned to him and asked him to please stop talking (those exact words).
His mom glared at me and told him that he doesn’t need to stop talking (which is insane to me) and that if I was bothered I should move. Thankfully, it’s a matinee and not sold out so I was able to move a few seats over.
I have really good floor seats that I paid over $100 for and I’ve travelled two hours from Philly and want to enjoy the show. I don’t think that I was out of line but other people around me weren’t complaining so was I being an AH?
Here's what people had to say to OP:
thechaoticstorm said:
NTA. You are 100% within your rights to call for an usher if someone is being disruptive, including children. A fifth grader should also know that it is rude to talk at the theater, and his mother should have shushed him instead of allowing it.
R4hscal said:
NTA. The kid needs to learn theatre etiquette ASAP. I would have spoken to one of the floor staff and had them pull up the kid for talking. But also Beetlejuice is absolutely fine for a kid in 5th grade.
Scared_Fox_1813 said:
NTA. Wednesday matinee audiences can be the worst. It is incredibly rude to the other audience members and to the performers to be talking throughout the show. Make sure to inform an usher of this and they will hopefully keep an eye on it and ask the kid to quiet down themselves if they start talking again.
Ohaibaipolar said:
NTA, but the mom is for allowing this behavior.
ssk7882 said:
NTA. By fifth grade, a kid -- and especially a kid who claims to have been taken to stage shows before -- really should know theater etiquette. The parenting is clearly the problem here, but all the same, it's perfectly acceptable to my mind to remind a ten-year-old that talking is really not okay during a live performance in a theater.
2nonthrow2w2y said:
NTA. Parents these days bristle automatically anytime anyone says anything to their kids. If he was lighting the seat on fire and you'd asked him to stop, she would have had the same reaction.
Frankly, it was her responsibility to shut him up during the first, second, or third number, and she might have felt insulted or offended that you did it instead, like it was a judgement on her (bad) parenting.
Nomikii said:
NTA. More kids need to be told how to act in public by strangers. Sometimes being told by the parents just isn’t enough.
MINI UPDATE:
Hi everyone! thank you for all the comments. I should have involved the usher but the kid seemed to quieted down once I moved seats and I didn’t want anyone to get kicked out or in trouble so I didn’t involve an usher, even though I probably should have. thank you for all the comments though!