concert etiquette
i am still really frustrated by the behavior of fellow concert goers last night at union transfer in philly. i was sat in the disability section, and it was good for most of the show (even though high chairs are not ideal for many disabilities, including mine, but still better than standing; i appreciate their help/the staff at the venue was great). however, toward the end, a bunch of folks decided to cram into that area and start SCREAM singing and bumping into the already unsteady chairs, putting their cups on the floor and inevitably spilling them. one dude was even using my backrest as his personal armrest. i just kind of distanced myself and tried to not be repeatedly touched by this loud annoying man and dealt with it.
the woman next to me had seen at the beginning of the night that i was uncomfortable in the high chair and we were putting our feet on each others to feel more stable. she’d also been very considerate of it making sure me and the other people behind me could see past her. for the encore she got fed up with the boisterous drunks bumping us and left, and as soon as she did a dude snatched her chair, almost pulling me off mine, and pulled it to sit DIRECTLY in my line of vision.
since it was the final song i just shrugged it off and moved my chair again and continued to enjoy the last moments. i was having a really nice cathartic moment and then BAM, a girl came up and SHOVED her phone directly by my face and started filming crowd reactions after making sure to performatively have her own feelings. i visibly recoiled and moved out of frame (if i even was in it). it was just so aggressive and rude and totally spoiled the moment.
tldr; if you don’t need to be in the disability section don’t be. it’s hard enough and you don’t know the reason why people are there. going to a concert can be hard for a lot of reasons but disabled fans deserve to go too—respect the space! also don’t shove your phone in someone’s face to film—it’s fucking rude.