January 14, 2005
The Phantom Voice
So it appears that polygamy night will become a weekly event, as Amy’s two friends came over for dinner again. This time we went to see the movie version of “The Phantom of the Opera” after dinner at The Avenue at White Marsh.
I’m sure many have experienced annoying talkative people during movies, and just as fortunes have it last night was one of those nights. It’s difficult to beat the scene of the black woman screamin, “OH YOU BETTA THROW DAT RING IN THAIR” when Frodo is standing at the edge and turns away to decide he wants to keep the ring after all, but this was close.
These kids sitting behind us must have been the fidgetiest bunch in the world, constantly moving around in their chairs and consequently kicking the seats in front them; otherwise known as the back of our seats. They were also the loudest whisperers, as it was easy to hear everything that came out of their mouths. Apparently one girl thought the Phantom was the cutest and I think the effeminate boy behind me did too. Another enjoyable little quirk was the high pitched baby like voice that would be heard throughout the whole theatre, “SHEEPY” or “SNOW” whenever in fact a sheep or snow appeared on screen. Perhaps the greatest gift was the over-exaggerated deep breath, that once started went down the entire line of 8 kids or so in succession and then started over again.
I sat there debating how exactly I was going to turn around and respond to them. The Phantom voice in my head went back and forth between politeness, slightly irritated, the voice of impending doom and a 10 minute diatribe about the selfishness of those that talk during movies. I struggled with being patient and graceful in the way I presented my message while aptly expressing my distress at their continued annoyance. Back and forth the voice inside my head went and I prepared to turn around and say, “Can you at least pretend to be polite?!” But for some reason they quieted down for a moment and I regained my cool.
About 10 minutes later they picked back up the chatter, during a very quiet moment in the movie. And the most beautiful thing happened. Wife #3, Jill, turned around and said, “can you guys stop, PLEASE!?” They were finally quiet! While I was struggling with how to show the love of Christ and convey the need for them to be quiet, Jill had no such barrier.
It was a great movie by the way and an excellent adaptation of the play. It was really neat to see certain scenes come alive in way that can’t happen on stage. Also to be able to get a lot closer to a scene or character added another level of depth to the story.
Afterwards, the ladies discussed how they were going to fill my schedule and divide my week up amongst them. Now this is all in jest of course, so if anyone is looking for a couple wives I know two very lovely and attractive women you should meet!
Posted by price at January 14, 2005 03:37 PM