Zone1 AITA - Church Attendance

[DGS49]

I am a RC, regular church goer, and for one reason or another my wife and I attend a number of different churches, depending on social engagements, golf, bowling, and other factors. We support our own parish, but jump around.

I have a pet peeve that I act on, and it bothers my wife.

There is a certain type of church-goer who practices what I consider to be a very rude custom. The people are invariably fat, usually old, and usually men. They find a totally empty pew, the park their lard-asses on the end seat, stretched out forward and to the side, as if to say, "Don't bother me." Hence, the whole freakin' pew is essentially blocked off. This is often done when the church is crowded.

When I encounter such a person, I walk up to them and politely ask if they would move so that my wife and I can sit in the totally empty pew. Of course, they always cheerfully move out of the way - this is church, after all - and my wife and I could take up a dozen seats if we wanted to, because the slug has essentially blocked it off from everyone else. I consider that I am doing a public service.

Am I the jerk in this situation, or is it the corpulent soul who camps at the end of the pew? Or are we competing for the honor?

 

[Meriweather]

I am a RC, regular church goer, and for one reason or another my wife and I attend a number of different churches, depending on social engagements, golf, bowling, and other factors. We support our own parish, but jump around.

I have a pet peeve that I act on, and it bothers my wife.

There is a certain type of church-goer who practices what I consider to be a very rude custom. The people are invariably fat, usually old, and usually men. They find a totally empty pew, the park their lard-asses on the end seat, stretched out forward and to the side, as if to say, "Don't bother me." Hence, the whole freakin' pew is essentially blocked off. This is often done when the church is crowded.

When I encounter such a person, I walk up to them and politely ask if they would move so that my wife and I can sit in the totally empty pew. Of course, they always cheerfully move out of the way - this is church, after all - and my wife and I could take up a dozen seats if we wanted to, because the slug has essentially blocked it off from everyone else. I consider that I am doing a public service.

Am I the jerk in this situation, or is it the corpulent soul who camps at the end of the pew? Or are we competing for the honor?

Perhaps these stories will help. I grew up in a large family, and what irked my brother is to find a single person sitting in the middle of a pew and it blocked a large family from sitting in that pew, because there was no room on either side of that person for a large family. It was as good as saying, "If you have a large family find another pew." Why couldn't the single person sit in a pew that already had people or choose to sit at one end or the other so there was room for families?

My grandmother, who by then was attending church by herself, said to my brother, "I come early, so when I sit in a pew, I sit in the middle so those who come later can easily enter from either side. I'm happy to move in either direction when more room is needed."

Families with small children will sometimes elect to sit at the end of the pew in case a child inevitably needs to go to the bathroom--or needs to be taken out due to poor behavior. Large, older people have bathroom issues themselves. Perhaps they are simply trying to be as discreet as possible by sitting at the end instead of having to climb over people.

But to answer your question: No, you are not a jerk--or a mind-reader. You have a good reason for wanting to enter a pew, and the other person/people may have a good reason for sitting at the end of a pew. Or...they may not.

 

[BreezeWood]

Or are we competing for the honor?

actual experience is that church attendees one way or the other are possessed as that individual in a sense of adulation for simply their being there as an unwarranted sense of cold hearted empowerment.

- as to ridicule those not present as sinners.

 

[onefour1]

I don't see a problem with what you described. You asked the man to move and he he moved to allow you onto the pew. Maybe he sits at the end of the pew because he will have to leave sooner than others and is avoiding stepping over everyone. Or maybe he has to use the restroom frequently and and wants easy access to get out. There could be several reasons to sit at the end of a pew. So it seems weird to me to criticize the man simply because he chooses to sit at the end. He apparently was gracious to move when asked and allowed you to sit in the middle of the pew when you asked him. To refer to him as a slug seems excessively rude.

 

[DGS49]

I don't see a problem with what you described. You asked the man to move and he he moved to allow you onto the pew. Maybe he sits at the end of the pew because he will have to leave sooner than others and is avoiding stepping over everyone. Or maybe he has to use the restroom frequently and and wants easy access to get out. There could be several reasons to sit at the end of a pew. So it seems weird to me to criticize the man simply because he chooses to sit at the end. He apparently was gracious to move when asked and allowed you to sit in the middle of the pew when you asked him. To refer to him as a slug seems excessively rude.

They sit on the end so that they can bolt out of church as soon as they hear, "Deo gracias," or equivalent.

 

[BreezeWood]

They sit on the end so that they can bolt out of church as soon as they hear, "Deo gracias," or equivalent.

are you and your wife members of the - harper valley p t a ...

And she said, "mom, I got a note here from the Harper Valley PTA"

jeannie c riley has just the song for you.

church, school what's the difference - christianity is the same wherever found ... neanderthal at best.

 

[ding]

neanderthal at best.

Compared to what?

 

[Polishprince]

I am a RC, regular church goer, and for one reason or another my wife and I attend a number of different churches, depending on social engagements, golf, bowling, and other factors. We support our own parish, but jump around.

I have a pet peeve that I act on, and it bothers my wife.

There is a certain type of church-goer who practices what I consider to be a very rude custom. The people are invariably fat, usually old, and usually men. They find a totally empty pew, the park their lard-asses on the end seat, stretched out forward and to the side, as if to say, "Don't bother me." Hence, the whole freakin' pew is essentially blocked off. This is often done when the church is crowded.

When I encounter such a person, I walk up to them and politely ask if they would move so that my wife and I can sit in the totally empty pew. Of course, they always cheerfully move out of the way - this is church, after all - and my wife and I could take up a dozen seats if we wanted to, because the slug has essentially blocked it off from everyone else. I consider that I am doing a public service.

Am I the jerk in this situation, or is it the corpulent soul who camps at the end of the pew? Or are we competing for the honor?

I don't understand the problem someone like this has.

There are plenty of churches that have crappy attendance and are never crowded.

I can understand why someone is unsocial, but such individuals have options that won't bother others.

 

[Blackrook]

You should be thinking about God in Church, not how much other people annoy you.

 

[Moonglow]

I am a RC, regular church goer, and for one reason or another my wife and I attend a number of different churches, depending on social engagements, golf, bowling, and other factors. We support our own parish, but jump around.

I have a pet peeve that I act on, and it bothers my wife.

There is a certain type of church-goer who practices what I consider to be a very rude custom. The people are invariably fat, usually old, and usually men. They find a totally empty pew, the park their lard-asses on the end seat, stretched out forward and to the side, as if to say, "Don't bother me." Hence, the whole freakin' pew is essentially blocked off. This is often done when the church is crowded.

When I encounter such a person, I walk up to them and politely ask if they would move so that my wife and I can sit in the totally empty pew. Of course, they always cheerfully move out of the way - this is church, after all - and my wife and I could take up a dozen seats if we wanted to, because the slug has essentially blocked it off from everyone else. I consider that I am doing a public service.

Am I the jerk in this situation, or is it the corpulent soul who camps at the end of the pew? Or are we competing for the honor?

WWJD?