Seat Savers - The Selfish & Inconsiderate Rule. Courteous People: Stay Home
 

I almost added to the other active thread on whole sections of chairs roped off inside the squares, but I think this deserves some focus today with the St. Patrick's Day celebration and parade at Spanish Springs.

At 10:00 a.m. this morning, almost about 3/4 of the chairs for the nightly entertainment IN the square were "reserved" by groups using seat cushions tied on, ropes strung thru the chair arms and tied, and "rope" made of twisted plastic sheeting. Some rows of seats had BOTH ropes and seat pads. I guess the seat hogs have been reading here where people said they'd cut and remove ropes or plastic bags rolled into rope used to tie off seats, but they wouldn't remove and discard seat pads!

There were also personally owned chairs in place in the prime seating areas for the dancing and live music TONIGHT.

I'm not going to comment on all the tables and chairs in the parking spaces that were reserved for viewing the parade at 3pm. I think parade-route positioning and saving a spot is pretty standard for parades around the country.

HOWEVER. Saving batches of seats for the nightly entertainment IN the square is just plain obnoxious and inconsiderate. The nightly entertainment is supposed to be for everybody--Villagers and non-Villagers alike, and this habit of saving seat blocks says STAY HOME to any normal people who are just out enjoying the evening and would like to sit down and listen to the music and dance for awhile.

This morning, a Recreation Dept. worker there in the street (diverting traffic at the road blocks closing off car/cart traffic to the street circling the square) at Spanish Springs told me that they are instructed to no longer take away seat-saving items like ropes and chair pads.

In my estimation this facilitates and welcomes selfish, obnoxious people to seize control of the music/dance facility, and it tells courteous and considerate people to just stay away because SOME residents have some kind of preferred status for seating there.

I think we all need to email the Recreation and DistrictGov managers and tell them this seat saving has to stop, unless they want the most inconsiderate people among us to rule the roost on seating at the nightly entertainment on the squares!

How in the world are visitors, newbies, Preview Stay guests, and others passing thru the area supposed to spend time there tonight and enjoy themselves, when the seats have all been hogged since 6:30 am.??

Take thier cushions and ropes and throw them in the trash.

This is TODAY and people can see and do for themselves what needs to be done to stop this behavior, without reading pages and pages of speculation about who's in charge or not in charge of it, or who's supposedly not going to do anything about it.

From what the Rec Dept. employee told me, they--a dept. of District Gov--are in charge and we need to voice our complaints to them.

No, it hasn't. The magnitude of this seat saving for the SP's Day celebration is greater than anything mentioned in the other thread. And to tell you the truth, I don't care if a new thread is started for every occurrence of the extreme sort. This one easily qualifies.

I have my doubts that things will ever change, but without keeping the subject in the forefront, you can be sure they won't.

Unfortunately, these people don't care.

Just like the ones who violate the dress codes on a cruise. The Matried used to siop them, now they won't. Just like people wearing tee shirts and shorts on formal nights instead of a Tux,

inconsiderate people everywhere and until someone in authrity stops them they will contiue.

This thread was started by a renter who calls herself Katsudden, in 2013, indignant that her seat cushions were removed in Spanish Springs. Just read this thread. It is from the seat saver's point of view.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...tml#post623458

I read it and I think she is wrong. The chairs and the space the chairs are placed on are not her property. They are community property, to be shared so others have a chance to sit down and relax for awhile after others have used them for awhile.

This seat saving is such garbage! We can't go to ANY events because we have a disabled elderly with us. He was NEVER offered a seat at the squares when we used to go and the seats were all taken. He is visably disabled by his walk and cane. Selfish people don't care about anyone but themselves.

I was furious when I read this originally. She is a vacationer.

We never go to see the special events or the bands that everyone loves. It's just too crowded. This is all such a disappointment. It was one of the amenities that attracted us to TV. The seat saving makes me just shake my head at the sense of entitlement so many people have here. I really can't lug a chair all the way from the parking lot so don't tell me to bring my own chair. That's if we can find a parking space. How did this get like this? Our only hope is that someone in charge will make some rules, some signs, whatever. I feel this is only going to get worse.

We have stopped going to the squares as much as we used to because the atmosphere sometimes feels so confrontational. We never go see Rocky and the Rollers any more because there's just no room.

Our biggest complaint during snowbird season is the long lines at the :beer3: :laugh: tiki huts and bars. But that is a staffing problem, not a seating problem!

It is what it is. If I had guests in town and wanted to take them to the St Pats parade I would go early and save seats.

No different than people all over this great country that go to July 4 fireworks and set up blankets, chairs, tents, etc for the best viewing.

I don't go to the parade anymore for myself because I've see it and I don't want to get there 4-5 hours beforehand for a seat.

The ONLY thing all this complaining will get you is NO EVENTS.

I love the fact that she tries to justify this by saying that she has a mobility problem. How many people in The Villages have some sort of mobility problem. Or maybe I should have asked how many don't.

As far as her asking what the difference is when someone gets up to dance or go the bathroom or get a drink, there is a huge difference. I think that anyone with any common sense can see the difference between that and going there at 3:00 and roping off chairs.

If you get a seat and intend to stay there, the seat should be yours. If you want to go to dinner or shopping you shouldn't be able to keep your seat. This creates a problem of how to know who is doing what. But I don't think that it's something that can't be solved

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It's very sad and events like today's parade just remind everyone of the overgrowth of TV.