The seats in London's theatres are too small for Americans
Feb 7th, 2003, 01:45 PM
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The seats in London's theatres are too small for Americans
An article in today's SF paper "American Rears Too Wide For Brit Theater". They are going to make their seats wider to accomodate overweight americans. Wow! Should we laugh or feel ashamed?<BR><BR>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...06/MNbutts.DTL <BR>
Feb 7th, 2003, 01:59 PM
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Actually, we should do both. I'll laugh, and you can feel ashamed for (1) being unable to comprehend that the article simply doesn't say what you claim, or (2) not bothering to actually read it in the first place.
Feb 7th, 2003, 02:07 PM
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We should be ashamed that we embrace the "super sizing" mentality when it comes to our eating habits. However to be fair, the Brits' bums are getting just as big and those old theatre seats were designed to accomodate a "Victorian" figure (small butts). Perhaps the British are using the American ass as a scapegoat to meet the wide seating needs of their own.
Feb 7th, 2003, 02:17 PM
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That's right, Art - and the second paragraph clearly states that it's the opinion of a single person, which last time I checked doesn't make it a fact. More importantly, nowhere does the article say that the theaters are going to "make their seats wider to accomodate overweight americans" (sic), which was what Faina claimed and what I was commenting upon.
Feb 7th, 2003, 02:24 PM
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I suspect this article may have picked up on various pieces in the London press about how many of the West End theatres are in dire need of some major re-vamping, given that so many were built so many years ago, and that attitudes, tastes and expectations have changed. Not to mention that quite a few really haven't had that much solid investment in upgrading over the decades.
Feb 7th, 2003, 02:28 PM
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I would more about the old theatres being fire traps than having cramped chairs, but now that it has been mentioned, the seats are awfully cramped and I have an average size rear. <BR><BR>The knee room is cramped too, does that mean that Americans have big knees? <BR><BR>I have seen many plump Brits from the rear and don't think the pot should call the kettle overweight, or whatever.
Feb 7th, 2003, 03:40 PM
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huh... well I work in Public Health, including keeping up on international comparative health systems and health delivery, and I know that WHO's report on worldwide obesity ranks the US and UK at about the same place, actually.<BR><BR>I went to several London theatre productions last August and in at least two of them the seats were excruciatingly small and I am avg. size, also. It wasn't the seat so much for me (although they weren't big), but that there was almost no knee room or space between the rows. It was worse than any airline, and those are getting pretty bad (espec. BA now that I think of it). At least I'm only 5'6", I can't imagine some poor guy 6'+ having to deal with it. Well, part of the problem was indeed that there was a gentleman next to me, and he was taller of course, so he just kind of stuck his legs into my space, which limited my space even further. It wasn't comfortable at all. One was that theater next to the Leiceister Sq metro stop where Vincent at Brixton was playing.
Feb 10th, 2003, 06:47 AM
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I sat in 4 different London theaters in 2002. I weight 250lbs and was not uncomfortable in any of the seats.<BR><BR>Can't say the same for my British Airways flight to the Channel Islands. Even the tiny people were crampted there.<BR><BR> Keith
Feb 10th, 2003, 07:59 PM
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Well, at first glance that does seem strange, but then it's no doubt that the West End theatre scene is a huge draw to London and is a gigantic boom not only to tourism but the entire economy. So I suppose it is not much different than the US government pouring tax dollars into such things as privately owned airlines.
Feb 11th, 2003, 10:55 AM
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I read an article today about how the rest of the world is catching up to the US in terms of obesity. Sad.<BR><BR>As lynlor says, the width of the seat isn't the problem--it's the space between the rows of seats. When I go to football matches in England, my knees usually are hitting the back of the person in front of me, and I'm only 5'6"!
Feb 11th, 2003, 05:08 PM
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The "butt's to big" has been a problem in New York for years. I dare a group of average sized Americans to attempt to utilize every seat in one of the Japanese built subway cars that have been in the city fleet for years. <BR><BR>
