Cinema Tickets

In stark contrast to the charitableness I have experienced here, I tried to give away (for free) a pair of cinema tickets in York once, many years ago. I had bought them earlier in the day for an evening showing and as the day progressed, the more exhausted I became. I thought I would try to cut my losses and let someone else enjoy the film, so they wouldn't go to waste and thus securing myself an early night.

I approached lots of different people offering them the tickets, and those who even stopped treated me with suspicion and scorn. If I had been asking for money from them I would have been dealt with better. Eventually, after an exhausting afternoon of failed philanthropy, we joined the cinema queue. I thought we would try our luck with people who actually wanted to see a film, or failing that, would see if we could get our money back, or worse, actually see the film. The more I type, the more I realise how very revealing this memory is.

We asked a couple in the cinema queue what film they were waiting to see. Bingo, same one! I asked them if they wanted our tickets. I explained that we had bought them earlier but we really tired and would rather someone else used them. The female of the pair looked in my eyes and must have seen truth because they seemed to believe us, or at least took pity on us, and took the tickets. Only, they insisted they paid for them. I had long ceased to care about the money - after the first ten or twenty people declined cinema tickets FOR FREE, I was utterly resolute that they would be given away. I said they was honestly no need, but the proud Yorkshire people were unyielding in their desire to not receive this small piece of charity. They gave us the money. All of this was in full view of the cinema staff who eyed us sceptically but said nothing.

To this day, I remain astounded by that afternoon.