I leaned over and yelled into Alexis' ear, "Put your sign down."
"What?" she mouthed back to me, her voice lost in the sea of bass beats, harmonized voices, and little girl screams.
"Put your sign down. The people behind you can't see," I repeated.
Alexis was mad. MAD. At me. She was having fun and she wanted to blast her love for Carlos as loud as possible. When you're seven and in the middle of a sea of people, a bright neon sign is a great way to be heard.
But.
The people behind us couldn't see through the sign. I'm all for fun, but not if it ruins the fun for others.
Apparently I stand on a lonely island with my thoughts on this.
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This past weekend, Project Spoil The Alexis continued. There was the water balloon fight and cheerleading camp and there was a little something I arranged months and months ago.
Giant Eagle started something last year and that something was a total and complete devotion to all things Big Time Rush. Alexis is head over heals in love with their music, TV show, and everything in between. It was a no-brainer that I would buy tickets and take her to the show again this year. It was an even bigger no-brainer that I would buy good tickets. I wanted her to be able to see the stage and enjoy everything about the concert.
She wasn't able to see a damn thing. I paid for her to get to stare at a bunch of grown women's butts.
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Big Time Rush is very clearly geared towards the pre-tween crowd. Everything about the show and the music screams HEY, KID! LIKE US! The only thing that could make them more Alexis-centric is if they walked around throwing glitter in the air.
Streamers don't count.
Although, the streamers are working for somebody, and that somebody is a heck of a lot of grown women. I don't remember last year's concert being the same way, but this year's was easily half grown-ups. The row in front of us was solid grown-ups. Not a single pre-tween. I must have missed the memo, but apparently Big Time Rush has become the Go To Band for cougars and their spouses.
First, WTH?
Second, OK, fine. You go you with the crush on the boy who is 20 years younger than you. Whatever makes you happy is totally cool. Seriously.
BUT WHY WERE YOU STANDING UP AND WAVING YOUR ARMS AND BEING COMPLETELY OBNOXIOUS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CONCERT?
I might be alone on my island, but on my happy little island, fun can be had just as long as it doesn't interfere with the fun of others around me.
I'm 5' 8" tall and my fun was dampened. *I* couldn't see, nor could I figure out a way to help Alexis see.
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On my island, nobody would ever dare to complain that others are having too much fun. I mean, I complained. A LOT. But, I didn't walk down the aisle to get a security guard.
"These women are talking about us and taking pictures of us to post on Facebook. If we want to stand up we can. I don't give a crap if their brats can see," the woman in the bright neon Big Time Rush t-shirt yelled to the security guard in the yellow shirt.
He followed her back to her seat and did whatever he could to calm the storm. The end result, from a distance, appeared to be that the group with kids left. I suppose they went to sit somewhere else, but man. MAN. They spent $50 per person for the privilege to sit in those seats and then didn't get to use them.
I don't know. I'm torn. It's not cool to talk about people and try to shame them on social media. Whether it's anonymous or passive-aggressive or whatever, it's a jerk move. But it's also a jerk move to be all "I'm having fun and screw you if that ruins your fun."
By the way, PUT YOUR DAMN ARMS DOWN. Don't you need to scratch your nose or something? Just for a second? PLEASE?
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Out of the 300 or so photos that I took during the concert, there were arms blocking the view in 112 of them. No joke. I counted, because I have issues like that.
For what it's worth, we were in the pavilion near the front of the top section. There wasn't a single person standing up in front of the people who blocked our view. They weren't standing up and waving their arms out of necessity, but rather because they wanted to.
I am seriously about 60/40 on the whole thing. Go, you! Have fun!
But does that fun really have to cause everyone around you to not have fun?
What do you think? Is it a jerk move to stand up and block the view with your body and/or signs when you're at a concert that is clearly geared towards kids?
I'm seriously asking.
(Big shout out to Post Gazette Pavilion or Starlake or whatever it's called for CLEARLY not slanting the pavilion enough. People who are 5' 8" should have no trouble seeing.)