DEAR MISS MANNERS: I participated in a vintage train excursion. At several points in the journey, the engineer stopped the train so that people could disembark to take photos and videos.
During one photo op, some enthusiasts beside me were chatting when a pair of Spielberg wannabes rebuked them, saying, “We’re trying to get sound on this shot.”
Miss Manners should know that these bros had not asked for quiet before the filming began. The unfairly chastened passengers didn’t say anything. I looked their way and rolled my eyes in sympathy.
Does Miss Manners agree with me that making people feel like fools is rude?
GENTLE READER: Who exactly are the fools? The people pretending that a public place is their film set, or the ones innocently trying to enjoy the experience for which they paid?
Never mind. Miss Manners knows the answer. Real life is merely scenery and footage, and the people who happen to get in the way of it, unruly extras.
But in reality, these extras were not getting paid, nor benefiting from product endorsement deals, which means the would-be cinematographers should be considerate of them — not the other way around.
Your sympathy was warranted. And the unfairly chastened pair could have reasonably said, “We weren’t aware that we were on a sound stage.”
(Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com; to her email, [email protected]; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.)
