Monday, May 31, 2010

Take me out to the - SHHHH!!!!

Yesterday was the epitome of a perfect summer afternoon. I was at the ballpark with two of my friends, it was a beautiful day, and the Red Sox were beating up on the Royals. All was as it should be. Or so I thought.

Part way through the game, the child seated in front of us turned around and dropped a bomb, "Excuse me, but could you please be quieter?"

Needless to say, we were floored. I know that the three of us are hardly quiet, but we were careful to keep our conversation appropriate and inoffensive; none of us were drinking, so that wasn't the issue. We assured the boy that we would keep it down, mostly because we didn't know what else to say - who expects things to be quiet at Fenway Park?

Please, use your "inside voices."

Throughout the game, whenever we spoke, even when it was cheering for the team, or singing along to "Sweet Caroline," this eight-year-old kid would turn around in his seat and glare at us. I'll be the first to call out obnoxious fans at games, and I assure you that we were being perfectly reasonable: our noise was due to enthusiasm about the game (more on that in a post later - I have to fill me Sox-less evening with writing), but he seemed to be personally offended by our enjoyment.

I put this to you, dear readers... have you ever been asked to be quiet - QUIET - at a ball game? What were the circumstances?

2 comments:

  1. I have a high hearing loss and often go to games with friends that know some sign, so there's very little noise from us other than cheering good plays and booing bad calls along with everyone else!

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  2. I've never been told to be quiet at a baseball game, and I hope I never will. What's surprising is that it was an 8 year old who was offended. Usually kids tend to be much noisier than adults.

    People should be loud at baseball games. Hell, I'm loud watching a game at home. Should we start quieting down at rock concerts too, I mean come on. Keep being loud. If people don't like it then they shouldn't be at a baseball game in the first place.

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