Pew Hogs

[Monica02]

Does it drive anybody else here crazy when people will not move themselves or their stuff when a pew gets crowded?

At Mass last Sunday, a family of three adults (latecomers) motioned that they wanted to sit in the pew I was in. No problem by me and I bundled my coat, bulletin and 2005 Mary Art calendar and proceeded to move down. Well the guy at the other end flashed a nasty look and just let his coat sprawled out and would not budge (he had a good 7 or 8 inches on the other side). Mass was in progress, the three latecomers were moving in, this guy would not move and I was just standing there trying to figure out what to do with my coat and purse (which I folded as small as possible).

I finally just scooted the guys coat a few inches and he gave me another dirty look and moved over a few inches. The pews seat six adults comfortably (at Christmas they can actually cram 9 or 10 in)and we all could have been comfortable if this guy would have moved a little and folded the arm of his coat in.

My irritation with latecomers is for another thread.

 

[Crispie]

Did you even politely ask him? Just curious.

 

[geocajun]

Monica, you should have just leaned over, and quietly, but firmly asked him to move his stuff to make room for everyone.

 

[Alexis OCA]

Whack em with the misselette!

Oops....sorry.

 

[Annabel Lee]

Monica, you should have just leaned over, and quietly, but firmly asked him to move his stuff to make room for everyone.

...and if he gave another dirty look, in a loud whisper say, "Now!!"

 

[geocajun]

...and if he gave another dirty look, in a loud whisper say, "Now!!"

and then she could hold her hand over him and shout "Satan, be gone from this man!!"
thats always a good option

 

[artnalex]

and then she could hold her hand over him and shout "Satan, be gone from this man!!"
thats always a good option

I do that over my kids sometimes.

But really, I don't know why people have an attitude with making room for people. They are in God's house for ggodness sakes. And Christian courtesy should be expected from everyone.

 

[geocajun]

I do that over my kids sometimes.

ya know.. I bet it would be even more fun, to do it over someone elses kids!

 

[Monica02]

The man could SEE me and the others moving down as he kept looking down and watching us struggle. I did not speak to him because Mass was in progress and I did not want to disturb anyone.

It was really hard to muster a pleasant "Peace and Merry Christmas" to this guy- but I did!

 

[jukesk9]

I saw the title to this thread and I thought it was gonna be about Razorback Catholics--in that case, I'm a Pew Hog

Hey, at least the latecomers are coming to Mass. It's a start. Be kind and pray for them.

 

[Monica02]

I saw the title to this thread and I thought it was gonna be about Razorback Catholics--in that case, I'm a Pew Hog

Hey, at least the latecomers are coming to Mass. It's a start. Be kind and pray for them.

I was kind to them. I do not think that they have been to Mass for a long time-they had to refer to their missalettes to follow along and recite the creed.

 

[Carrye]

I was kind to them. I do not think that they have been to Mass for a long time-they had to refer to their missalettes to follow along and recite the creed.

Well then Thank God they were there!

 

[Estefana]

I tend to have a lot of patience for late comers because I am often one myself. We have two three year old girls to get ready for mass and often one of them will decide she is going to rip off her dress and put her swimmers on and ask me to watch her in the pool, or decide they are going to play hide and seek with us, so sometimes we are a little late, but at least we get there.

 

[Wolseley]

Well.....you could do what what my cousin did one time.

She was at a crowded service with her husband and her brother; they're Methodists. There was a businessman-type in the center of the pew, and he wasn't about to shift for anybody, just sat there with his arms crossed. Five or six latecomers came in, and the usher directed them to her pew, and this businessman guy just sat there glaring at them. There were still a couple of people standing in the aisle with the usher, and this guy wasn't moving an inch.

My cousin was standing up in the pew and politely asked, "Could you move down a little, please?" The guy just sat there and glared. The thing was, there was space for three or four more people on the other side of him, but he didn't want to move for some reason. So he just sat there, my cousin stood there in the pew, and these three latecomers were standing in the aisle with the usher.

About this time she decided she'd had enough, so she just walked over and sat down on the guy's lap. Everybody else shifted sideways and there was room (just) for the three folks in the aisle. Everybody for three pews back was laughing,and the businessman's face got very red, from a combination of anger and embarrassment. He made a motion to stand, she got off his lap, and he shifted down, making room for everybody else.

The family laughed about that one for years afterwards. Even the minister was laughing about it after the service.