I was reminded of this cockle-warming human quality last night at the theatre.
It is an old theatre, absolutely gorgeous in aesthetics, history and vibe. However, as an old theatre it does have its issues. For one, whilst we had had the good fortune of getting tickets with a good viewing position, one seat had a restricted view. As I had been the one who had really wanted to see one of The Mousetrap's rare excursions out of London, my husband had generously volunteered to take the restriction.
The other issue is that the seats were proportioned in a whole other age in time, in this case, so not suited to the chap seated next to me... who was big. So big that the arm to his chair had all but disappeared, making the two seats seem like one. Even I found the leg room tight, but hubby, yet again came to the fore to seat at an angle so I could do the same. Luckily, we were on the aisle. Between the three of us there was no fuss or bother at all, we adjusted, shared a few words about the lack of room, readjusted and settled down to enjoy the show.
And what a great first half !
In the break I immediately got up and moved out to the aisle to stretch my legs, which was lovely. Soaking up the vibe, I looked around and I was surprised to see the chap next to me hadn't moved. 'Get up and stretch your legs' I said and so he did. Quite a few others were doing the same. One lady in particular caught my eye, and we enjoyed a few moments together with her mouthing 'a good stretch' and me nodding in agreement.
An ice cream, followed by a quick scoot around the theatre and we were soon seated for the second half.
It was great.
I love the theatre, a bit of gentle intrigue, good vibes, the real take home was that I particularly like old school, the moments of 'we are in it together' generosity... nice.