At Tuesday night’s concert, I was surrounded by ladies of my demographic – same age, pant size, and probably, tax bracket. And then there was this guy:

Yep, this was my view for part of the Boys II Men, 98 Degrees, and New Kids on the Block Package Tour concert. The one (insanely tall) dude in the crowd was right in front of me. Blast.

But it’s a concert and I’m not (completely) an old fuddy-duddy, so I figured out how to stand on my tippy toes while leaning into the seat in front of me and could see fine(ish).

Then about three songs into New Kids on the Block, the lady behind me tapped me on the shoulder asking me to ask the guy in front of me to sit down. I said no. She said she would do it if I got his attention. Again, I said no. We all paid the same amount for our tickets and he was either 1. totally ashamed to be there already or 2. a closet NKOTB fan who was so very excited to be there. (I’m leaning towards #2 since he took as many, if not more pictures, than all the ladies in my row.)

I learned later that she and her friends were loudly whining about him throughout the other acts. At one point in time during Boys II Men, she hit me on the shoulder and said “man, that guy”, which I took to mean “wow, that guy with the bass voice sure can sing deep”. Turns out she really meant “that giant in front of you should not be allowed in concerts.”

She ended up leaning over me and asked him to sit. He complied by holding himself up on the armrests in an uncomfortable Olympic gymnast rings hold for about an hour. He was tall enough that he probably could still see, but obviously wasn’t able to clap, take pictures, or really get into the show.

I see her point in asking him to sit. I see his point in standing like the rest of us who paid for our tickets.

What would you do in this situation if you were me? Or the lady behind me? Or the semi-professional basketball player in front?