Originally Posted by 2newyorkers (Post 488954)

We were at SL last night. My friend and I went up to the bar to get a drink. Someone came over and stated that we told them that they could have our chairs because we no longer needed them. They picked up the chairs and started to walk away. One of our group called on our cell and asked if this is true. When we said no they went and got our chairs back. People can be very crafty!

Originally Posted by buggyone (Post 488957)

Wow, I have never heard of such a thing as that! Anyhow, last evening was the Cinco De Mayo celebration and a larger crowd than usual in the off season. In the off season, there usually isn't a problem getting a chair for the entertainment.

I went to the "CD Release Celebration" of a new singer named Garrett Miles on Friday night. Lake Sumter Landing did not even have 1/4 of it's capacity. The singer had a very good voice but no stage presence at all. He is blind but still needs to work on on stage presence if he wants to make it as a country singer.

Originally Posted by D&Lsunfun (Post 488869)

Yes, The Villages is the Friendlest Town, until
residents go to the town squares.
The "saving and holding" of chairs, picnic tables, benches, parking spaces
is really a turn off to join in the squares activites. Many people are holding chairs for guests that never arrive. One person held a whole picnic table for over an hour for her 6 to 8 guests that never arrived, but she sat alone at the table telling people the table was reserved. yes, we could bring our own chairs, but certainly there is enough chairs if they weren't reserved and empty.

Originally Posted by Tom Hannon (Post 488896)

Not sure how you have the nerve to stereotype New Yorkers as the rude ones. Your comment is not taken lightly and I'm sure there are many other New Yorkers who feel the same as I do.

Originally Posted by manaboutown (Post 489196)

Back in October of 2011 while spending the month in TV I experienced the same thing at SL. Three women were sitting together on one side of a large round table having 8 - 10 chairs around it. I asked if any seat was avaialble at the table. They obnoxiously said NO so I moved on. During the course of the evening no one else sat at the table. I know because I sat on the veranda at Panera right behind it. The same sort of thing happens on cruise ships. It is very low class behavior. It is like these people have chips on their shoulders.

Originally Posted by jdsl1998 (Post 489311)

In normal situations, the saving of 1 seat is always appropriate, because of bathroom and concession stand trips. The proper method is to leave an article on the seat directly in question and you yourself remain seated adjacent to it. In such situations when 2 seats must be saved by 1 person, the proper seating is this: Empty Seat - You - Empty Seat. If you can, place articles on the seat designating them as taken. Do not try to outflank the rest of goers by having two seats on the same side of you being taken. When your friends come back, you can switch to whatever seat you prefer.
Pardon me sir, but not in my America! Those who wish to sit together should arrive together. And if you have a ridiculous number of people, arrive as early as needed to secure your seats.I beg of you, arrive early if you wish to sit together en masse. Save yourself the trouble and embarrassment of being the last defender of the Alamo.

Don't feel bad when you arrive by yourself or with just 1 friend. The other members of your entourage are to blame! They are the ones who are late and they shall pay the price. Take responsibility for yourselves and show up on time!

If I show up on time and there is one man attempting to cordon off a seating area the size of New Jersey, beware! I shall take the seats from you and be in the right as me and my punctual friends settle in for a fine evening experience.

In summation, my good chums arrive early and as a cohesive unit. Be proud of your friendships and your uncanny ability to navigate lines and traffic to arrive 25 minutes before the show. But if you find yourself stuck behind enemy lines, cut off from your friends who are struggling to find a spot, be courteous, be polite, and follow the rules. One seat on either side of you is your limit. Protect the center seats by manning your perimeter. Never try to take more than you can hold and don't launch a land war! But that's just me and I've just reached my Boiling Point on seat savers.

Originally Posted by jdsl1998 (Post 489311)

In normal situations, the saving of 1 seat is always appropriate, because of bathroom and concession stand trips. The proper method is to leave an article on the seat directly in question and you yourself remain seated adjacent to it. In such situations when 2 seats must be saved by 1 person, the proper seating is this: Empty Seat - You - Empty Seat. If you can, place articles on the seat designating them as taken. Do not try to outflank the rest of goers by having two seats on the same side of you being taken. When your friends come back, you can switch to whatever seat you prefer.
Pardon me sir, but not in my America! Those who wish to sit together should arrive together. And if you have a ridiculous number of people, arrive as early as needed to secure your seats.I beg of you, arrive early if you wish to sit together en masse. Save yourself the trouble and embarrassment of being the last defender of the Alamo.

Don't feel bad when you arrive by yourself or with just 1 friend. The other members of your entourage are to blame! They are the ones who are late and they shall pay the price. Take responsibility for yourselves and show up on time!

If I show up on time and there is one man attempting to cordon off a seating area the size of New Jersey, beware! I shall take the seats from you and be in the right as me and my punctual friends settle in for a fine evening experience.

In summation, my good chums arrive early and as a cohesive unit. Be proud of your friendships and your uncanny ability to navigate lines and traffic to arrive 25 minutes before the show. But if you find yourself stuck behind enemy lines, cut off from your friends who are struggling to find a spot, be courteous, be polite, and follow the rules. One seat on either side of you is your limit. Protect the center seats by manning your perimeter. Never try to take more than you can hold and don't launch a land war! But that's just me and I've just reached my Boiling Point on seat savers.

Originally Posted by LABSX2 (Post 489326)

We have a Lifestyle Preview scheduled for September and I WAS looking forward to going to the evening Town Square activities, but if it is that much of a battle maybe I'll just skip that "fun" time. Sorry, but this sure doesn't shed a very good light on the hospitality that everyone is always boosting about. :undecided:

Originally Posted by senior citizen (Post 489330)

My husband checked the day after we arrived, etc., etc. and he kept saying that there were no chairs. We ended up skipping the town square entertainment totally but enjoyed everything else.

After the 4 day Lifestyle Visit in Creekside Landing, we moved to another village that was not close to either town square......and again, didn't feel we missed anything. Figured it will always be there in the future.

We felt very much at home in the one month rental and since the main purpose was to see if we could live in the homes......that decision was a no brainer for us. Not to mention, we were blessed with a week long visit by our youngest grandbaby.......so everything then revolved around her naptime, feeding time, etc.

TV has a lot of other great things going for it that we didn't feel any sense of loss.

I wouldn't be surprised if LONG TIME RESIDENTS never even go to the town square evening entertainment. Probably their visitors enjoy it very much as well as out of the village area residents. Obviously, there will always be those who live to dance that indeed will go every night. Maybe try a "slower night". Again after him saying there were no chairs at all, we just figured it wasn't that important to us.

Gracie: Side question. Do you go to the town square entertainment every evening?