'AITA for poking at someone's screen at the movie theater?' 'It's distracting.'

"AITA for poking at someone's screen at the movie theater?"

A woman in front of me started to use her phone excessively. I wouldn't mind if she used it to check the time (edit: or anything for a bit, not just the time), but it looked like she was texting. After what felt like 5 minutes (probably was only a minute), I bent down and whispered to her it's distracting.

She put it away, then pulled it out again after a bit to use it for a while. I bent down and started poking around her phone, not knowing what I was poking at because it's none of my business, I was just poking at it. I didn't do it for a full second because she immediately put it down and said "what the f??"

I heard a person say "shhh." Second time she pulled out her phone, I did it again. She never pulled her phone out again. I didn't give care because if she would report this, either we'd both be out or she would, because she would be outing herself.

The only way a stranger can poke at your phone is if you have your phone out. I thought the way I handled it was quiet, I told her once that it was distracting, she was the one who pulled out her phone, but at the same time, I did put my finger on her belonging, which is why I'm here.

I don't want to go out of the movie theater to report. Have y'all ever done that? Does it often work? If so then the movie theaters I go to suck here. I don't want to miss out on a scene because of some person who felt at home out in public.

Here's what top commenters had to say about this one:

BenjiCat17 said:

I wouldn’t touch a person or their property because you don’t know how they will escalate the situation if you do. In the future, you have to get the staff because they are equipped to handle her and they have the authority to police the movie theater and you don’t.

FeckinSheeps said:

ESH. You were...poking around her phone? Wtf does this even mean. Super weird behavior.

Immediate_Fortune_91 said:

Yta. Don’t touch other peoples property. If you have an issue with someone go talk to an employee.

Jawsh_Wolfy said:

ESH, yes she shouldn’t be using her phone in the theater. But don’t touch other people or their property.

Same_Patience520 said:

ESH, just get the usher to deal with them.

possiblycrazy79 said:

YTA. Your 2 real options were to get up & report her to someone or just deal with it. You asked her & basically she said no without saying it. You can't expect to control her behavior. You can report her if she's breaking the rules.

You tried your only reasonable recourse which was asking her to stop. We can't all go around physically acting on our irritation, as appealing as that may seem.