Last week, I decided to watch my daughter skate in a very cold rink that has a "warm room" where parents can watch.
When I arrived there was a lady sitting in a comfortable overstuffed old "living room like" chair next to an old beat up couch.
When I entered the room, I gave the woman my usual friendly hello, but was only greeted with a cold and unfriendly grunt as the woman continued to watch the skating practice session. It was obvious that she did not want to be friendly.
There was another huge and old overstuffed empty chair and small office chair that was empty that blocked the view to the ice from the old couch. In fact, those chairs blocked the view to the ice to anyone who would sit on the couch, so, since they were not being used, I moved the two unoccupied chairs and to the side of the couch and then "settled in" to watch my daughter skate. I wanted to sit on the couch because it looked more comfortable than the chairs.
I was a bit alarmed when the woman who had been so unfriendly, gave me a very nasty look when I moved the empty chairs. In response, I smiled back when she glared at me.
It seemed that the woman wanted to tell me that she was angry that I moved the chairs, but instead, both of us continued to watch our children skate. There was an "icy silence" between us in that "warm" observation room that overlooked the ice sheet.
About 45 minutes later, the woman suddenly arose from her seat, and promptly moved the huge empty overstuffed chair back in front of me (which of course, blocked my view of the ice sheet).
I thought that was very odd and rude, but I decided not to say anything since my daughter's lesson was over, and since the huge overstuffed chair was unoccupied, I could still see what was going on fairly well.
"Well, whatever," I thought.
"This lady must really feel possessive about the way the chairs were originally arranged. She must feel that I invaded a space that she'd claimed or something."
About 15 minutes after that, the woman's daughter (or maybe it was her grand-daughter?) came into the "warm room" after her skating practice and sat down in the huge overstuffed chair. The teen seemed to expect that the huge overstuffed chair be waiting for her. It seemed that she and her mother (or grandmother) "owned that space" or something when they were at that rink.
Now, my view to the ice was completely blocked, but there was only about 15 more minutes of skating left anyway. I decided to not "push it" and tried my best to see what I could of the rest of my daughter's practice session.
I'm a bit "bugged" by this incident. I could have said,
"Excuse me, you are blocking my view, could you move over a bit?" ...But...I didn't say anything....
The woman in that "warm room" at that skating rink had made it clear when she first "grunted" at me that I was not welcome in what must have been her space, but that is not what really bothers me.
What bothers me is that skating is supposed to be fun and the people we meet in ice rinks should be friendly and nice to one another. Moving a huge chair in front of a happy mother who just wants to watch her child skate was just not "nice."
I had to write this out since it bothered me so much and I do hope that those who read this will remember to smile, be nice, and says hello at the rink!
