Alas, that is not the case. So we live in a world of laws, rules, and friendly (and not-so-friendly) suggestions. While some are seemingly arbitrary, I'd like to believe that most of them exist for a reason.

Heads up, everyone...Senorita CrankyPants is in the house.

We all see it every day, big and small. And it both fascinates and infuriates me how one person's selfishness can ruin an experience for others.

Sam and I went to see Brokeback Mountain on Sunday, and, as before every film at this particular theater chain, there was a screen asking people to turn their cell phones off. There was an almost universal "turning off of the phones." The theater was almost completely silent, as was appropriate for the stunning scenery and the intensity of the story line.

And then it happened. Someone's ringtone. Some bullshit Christmas ringtone. How insulting to everyone in that theater. The person in question didn't answer it, but they didn't shut the phone off either. I guess the on-screen request DID NOT APPLY. Yet another reason why I despise going to the movies in a theater.

There's a post on Gizmodo today about NATO (No, not that one...the National Association of Theatre Owners, silly) putting in a request to the FCC to block cell phone signals in movie theaters.

And I say it's not a bad idea. Yes, we should all be grown up enough to not need measures like this...BUT we are not...there's always one jackass that the rules don't apply to.

And I've found they really don't apply to people's children. We were working again at Family Giving Tree last night, where they easily have three or four very large signs at the door and in the lobby that read "DON'T COME IN IF YOU ARE SICK" or "DON'T COME IN HERE IF YOU HAVE A COUGH." Makes perfect sense to me...people are working very close together and it would be come a total germ bath if one person starts spewing phlegm everywhere.

So imagine my delight when a little girl (6, maybe) working with her family in the row next to us starts hacking. And choking. Non stop. Her father had been joking earlier that he wasn't sure his PhD in Physics prepared him for this work. Obviously his PhD in Physics rendered him unable to read and follow a simple SIGN. Or maybe he figured that it just didn't apply to his little girl.

I will not be happy if I get sick from this. One of the things I've appreciated the most about hiding in my underground lair working from home is that I don't get sick with the frequency or intensity that I once did. Every cold inevitably turned into bronchitis, and once every few years would progress into pneumonia. It sucked, I tell you.

I'm impressed that you're teaching the little tyke about the importance of volunteering during the holidays, but for the love of god, don't get the rest of us sick and potentially ruin our holidays.