Special moments, aggravating as they may be...

Last night our oldest son performed in his first band concert. He plays the trumpet, just like his dad, and he's doing a great job, although I don't think he practices enough, but that's another story...

It's funny (and yet sad) how I can eagerly anticipate these special events in my children's lives, moments captured in video and photos, to forever be remembered and cherished, only to have the little things annoy the living daylights out of me to the point that I want to stand up and scream. Allow me to share last night's annoyances with you...

We arrived at the school gymnasium a little early and our son took his place among the other band members to warm up for the concert. In the meantime, we found a couple of seats. Mind you, there were TWO (Yes, only TWO) rows of seats set up for families to sit in, and there were probably 150+ people in attendance, so people were having to grab seats from elsewhere until school officials finally clued in and had the custodians start rounding up more seats. Where did they think people were going to sit anyway? I still don't understand that.
As I mentioned before, the concert took place in the gym. The basketball goal right in front of the staged area wasn't moved, although it appears to be one of those that can be raised to "lie flat" just below the rafters. Was it broken or did no one think it necessary to move it? I don't know. It was really just a minor gripe, but an annoyance to me just the same.

The podium was set up along the side of the staged area and I guess someone thought it would be nice if red, white and blue star-shaped balloons were attached. I felt sorry for the families sitting on that side of the gym because they were faced with having to look around those balloons the entire time. Obviously not a great photo op for lots of people!

The microphones were crackling and no one seemed to have the ability to fix the problem. Frankly, in a room that small, I was thinking they could have just turned the microphones off altogether. It would have been much more pleasant.

Naturally you have people who think it's A-okay to stand in front of others to get just the right picture. There was one woman who I thought would never sit down. Every single time I went to get a picture of my son, and I was sitting so as not to block other people, she popped up in front of my camera. GRRRRR.... SIT DOWN!!!

There was a family sitting in front of us that played musical chairs nearly the entire evening. First they "saved" seats, which ticked off a few people, and then their kids couldn't sit still. One little boy had a quarter and he kept rolling and/or dropping it in his folding metal chair, so you can imagine the noise. Um... Can't you just take it away from him? The parents didn't seem remotely bothered by the constant fidgeting and noise-making, but I can assure you, I WAS QUITE BOTHERED. I was reminded of the scene in the comedy "Kindergarten Cop" where Arnold Schwarzeneggar threatens to break a kid in half like a pencil if he doesn't stop kicking the back of his airline seat. I could somewhat relate to that last night.

Then there was someone (an adult) behind us who kept making noises with their program... folding it, wadding it, crinkling it... you name it. It always happened at the precise moment when everyone was quiet and attempting to listen to the music. I just wanted to turn around and snatch the paper out of the person's hands and ask them what their problem was.

I'm telling you, the older I get, the less tolerant I seem to be. Oh, I don't ever confront anyone, but I THINK about confronting people all the time. I thought we were supposed to mellow with age. What's happening with me? Maybe I need some help with anger management or something. It wasn't just me though. Even my husband was a little annoyed. At one point, I leaned over and said to him, "This is positively blog-worthy!"
All the aggravation melted away when I saw how much my son had enjoyed the evening. He really enjoys playing his trumpet and I think it's cool he and his dad have yet one more thing in common.