The new Robin Hood movie advertisements made it look like a Gladiator remake, but I agreed to see it as part of my Father’s Day present to my husband. To my amazement the fight scenes appeared in the movie theater, not just on screen.

In the theater, I was the lucky one sitting directly behind someone who had issues with their seat. Apparently the girl’s seat kept her upright and she couldn’t lean back comfortably. Her and her date kept looking back at me as if I was doing something to the chair, when I wasn’t even touching it. This made me think about how, any time you see a movie in a theater you expect that things may not be as perfect as your living room. Your feet stick to the floor, popcorn containers left by previous viewers cause you to stumble, and even though you arrive early to the theater for the perfect view, a tall guy always comes in at the last-minute blocking your view and leaving you no time to change your seat.

The Robin Hood movie definitely provided the promised adrenaline rush, but maybe more than my body could handle. I believe subconsciously a portion of my brain was activated that is not typically used. I am normally calm and easy-going, but this movie pushed me to a state of ‘fight or flight’.

Over two hours into the movie the woman in front of me turned around and said angrily, “Miss, will you stop kicking my chair!” I guess I was pretty annoyed at that point, what with the high adrenaline and the fact that I hadn’t touched her chair the entire movie. At that point I was mad for being accused of doing something, that I hadn’t done. I had a knee-jerk reaction (literally) because I kicked her chair so she could see what it would be like if I had kicked her chair during the movie. I am not a fight picker (at all!), so this is why I thought I was under the influence of adrenaline.

The girl stood up in the middle of the theater during the most exciting part of the movie and yelled at me about the chair. I can’t even say what she said – too much profanity. Somewhere in there she wanted to ‘take it outside’ to fight me. At that point I came back to reality and told her to ‘calm down’. Her behavior was not going to make me respond – I have two kids, so I am immune to the yelling. I think I shocked her with a lack of response, because she finally sat back down.

I realized my behavior was completely childish and out of character, but how much had to do with me, and how much had to do with my adrenaline overdose? I admit I can have a temper at times, and kicking her chair was a mistake, but at least I didn’t stand up in the middle of a crowded theater yelling at people. In the end, I felt sorry for her because I felt bad I had kicked her chair that one time and that instead of just letting go of her issues with the chair, she had to blame it on me. I just happened to be in the wrong seat at the wrong time. I decided a few things after this incident: 1) don’t watch adrenaline-filled movies at the theater (just watch it at home), 2) when someone accuses you of something you didn’t do -just ignore them, because nothing you say or do is going to improve the situation and you never know, they could be clinically insane.