Movie Theatre Etiquette

I went to the movie Harry Potter last night, for the midnight showing. Foolish? Yes. A 12:01 start time for a 2-1/2 hour long movie on a week night? Have I lost my mind? Have I ventured into my youth once more? No, I just really like Harry Potter. This movie was spectacular! I was scared, I cried (lip quiver and all) and I laughed. It was just a great movie.

I went to the showing on a whim with my roommate, who is also a hard core fan. We tried to predict what the general audience would be at a midnight showing. We imagined it would be spontaneous 20-somethings on up, that are die hard Harry Potter fans. We showed up to the movie theatre about an hour early to ensure a good seat. To our dismay, the "Ultra Screen" was sold out. So, we opted for the regular theatre. As we walked in, there was a vast wasteland of high schoolers cluttering the aisles and laying on the ground, something an OCD person such as myself, would never even dream of doing. We find our seats away from the large clusters, and take them. Then in walks a mom with her little boy, no more than 8 years old, and a BABY, yes folks, a BABY! I couldn't believe my eyes. Who bring someone under the age of 20 to a midnight showing on a week night?

The movie itself was great. That's all I'll say in case ya'll haven't seen it yet. However, the couple sitting right next to me did not practice the proper etiquette. I think this etiquette pertains to all, closed area, people populated, situations. When they initially sat down she (the woman sitting next to me) immediately wedged her arm onto the arm rest and oozed over into my side. Then she was jostling and making other large movements, so that she could cuddle up to her date. Eventually everyone settled down and became engrossed in the movie. Then after a few minutes, I smelled something rather foul. Yes friends, it was the couple next to me. For whatever reason, they neglected to use deodorant that day. It became so foul smelling that I sneezed uncontrollably because the stench was singeing my nose. There are rules folks! As we all follow in choir, no strong smelling scents (perfume, or otherwise), do not disrupt others, and ALWAYS wear deodorant to ensure the breathing of those around you. It became so distracting that I ended up putting my mittens over my nose. As I was leaning over to do the discrete mitten-over-the-nose, I smelled the man in front of me, who obviously had a few packs of cigarettes before the movie, and took it upon himself to bath in man-spray. I couldn't take it. My eyes were watering, my nose was burning, and I was starting to black out from the smell.

So, with my examples, please always follow the rules in public places.
1) Do not disrupt people when they are clearly involved in something else.
2) Do not heavily smoke, and then try to mask the smell by drenching yourself in a horrible smelling body spray.
3) Do not invade other people's personal spaces, especially when you're in tight quarters.
4) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS wear deodorant.