Backrest, not footrest

[Outdoor Girl]

I don't think it is OK to put one's feet up on the seat in front of you in a theatre or any other venue.  But I'm not going to say anything to a stranger unless it is directly affecting me.

[Momiitz]

What I meant to say was in the dentist lobby,  not where you get your teeth cleaned and have to put your feet on the seat.

If the staff not saying anything makes it alright to put your feet on the seat, then the same should hold true when somebody's kids are screaming in the grocery store and running around making a mess, as long as the staff don't say anything it must be okay right?

[Tabby Uprising]

What I meant to say was in the dentist lobby,  not where you get your teeth cleaned and have to put your feet on the seat.

If the staff not saying anything makes it alright to put your feet on the seat, then the same should hold true when somebody's kids are screaming in the grocery store and running around making a mess, as long as the staff don't say anything it must be okay right?

A business is responsible for setting its own rules and policies and choosing how to enforce them. If we as patrons don't like a certain behavior, but that behavior is not against the rules, we can ask that rule be made or we can take our business elsewhere.  But asking another patron or customer to change their behavior to suit your personal preference isn't appropriate.   There are better options. 

And while feet on a seat (ha ha - rhyme!) may be a personal annoyance for some, the theater probably feels it is a very minimal distraction to other patrons.  People are there to watch a movie on a big screen.  Crying children, talking adults, lights from phones can absolutely be a key distraction to that enjoyment.  Feet propped up on an unoccupied seat probably won't register with most patrons and not bother ones who do happen to notice it. 

Having feet on seats in a casual environment like a theater where it isn't against the rules isn't a matter of "right" versus "wrong".  It's a preference issue.  And if the theater says in their establishment it isn't an issue, I don't think the behavior can be deemed wrong. 

[DottyG]

What I meant to say was in the dentist lobby

I just thought through that, and I'm not sure it'd really register with me even in the lobby.  I'm picturing my dentist's waiting area (and other areas like that that I'd go to), and I don't know that I'd really be bothered by someone's having their feet on an unoccupied seat.

If it were crowded and people needed to sit down, yes.  But that's a different issue, because that's taking up a seat that someone can use to sit in.  But if there are a few people in there and someone happens to have their foot on the seat, I really don't know that I would even notice it all that much.  If I did notice it, I'd probably just assume they had a leg issue where they needed to prop their leg up and then not think about it again.

(All this is beside the point, of course.  This thread's issue isn't about whether feet on the seat (I like that TU ) is right or wrong.  The issue in this thread is whether someone can say something about it or not to another patron.  I just thought I'd follow up on your tangent since it got my attention.)

[Yvaine]

If the staff not saying anything makes it alright to put your feet on the seat, then the same should hold true when somebody's kids are screaming in the grocery store and running around making a mess, as long as the staff don't say anything it must be okay right?

Again, this is not about whether the feet on the seat are OK (though that could make a decent spinoff thread, I suppose). The OP's question was:

If it should happen again and I was closer, what should I say?

I know I should address the adults, but beyond that, I have no idea. Ok, that's not true, I have a couple but they came from Evil!Lilya, there's no way they are E-Hell approved.

And we're replying to that by saying it would not actually be polite to say anything to these other patrons. Maybe they're being rude, maybe they're not, but the only people we can control are ourselves. It's not polite to manners-police random strangers in your vicinity if they're not actually harming you in some way.

[Momiitz]

I did in fact understand the OP's original question. I did answer that in my first post.

I would not tell someone to get their feet off the seat. That would be pointing out someone else's behaviors. It would not bother me enough to get management involved.  I might be inclined to write to management to ask what their rules are about feet on the seats.

I was commenting on the rudeness of the situation because that was where the discussion led to. I am more than happy to agree to disagree. I'm certainly not the authority on rude behavior. That's why I frequent the ehell boards

Edited to fix

[rabbit_woman]

I for one ALWAYS put my feet up, in the cinema, in a meeting, at church, on a train or bus, wherever I am.

This is because i am short - five feet tall - and if i sit in a normal chair, my feet do not touch the ground. If you sit like this for any length of time, it becomes very uncomfortable, and can result in a bad back. I have suffered a lot of sciatica in the past, and sitting in a chair when your feet cannot touch the ground for any length of time excerberates that.

Where I work now, I turn a plastic bin upside down and put it under my desk, and rest my legs on that. Not always possible to carry a plastic bin around with you, though!

It may not be particularly ladylike, but maybe cinemas, buses and trains should consider lower chairs! i don't want to upset anyone or seem rude, but i don't want a trapped nerve in my back either!

[Winterlight]

I don't think it is OK to put one's feet up on the seat in front of you in a theatre or any other venue.  But I'm not going to say anything to a stranger unless it is directly affecting me.

Agreed.

[Sharnita]

You know I am pretty short too but I am not sure this is a reasonable excuse.  If a tall person did this because they were too cramped I don't think I'd find it reasonable.  Shoes do carry dirt, even if you don't see it and I am not thrilled witht he idea that I come along later and sit where your shoes have been propped up, depositing dirt. Maybe sitting where you might be able to turn and put your foot up on a step or on a railing assuming there is no wheelchair in the wheelchair area?

As far as putting your feet up against the chair back, it seems like that could eventually weaken the integrity of the springs and the chair.

[SciFiLeslie]

You know I am pretty short too but I am not sure this is a reasonable excuse.  If a tall person did this because they were too cramped I don't think I'd find it reasonable.  Soes do carry dirt, even if you don't see it and I am not thrilled witht he idea that I come along later and sit where your shoes have been propped up, depositing dirt. Maybe sitting where you might be able to turn and put your foot up on a step or on a railing assuming there is no wheelchair in the wheelchair area?

As far as putting your feet up against the chair back, it seems like that could eventually weaken the integrity of the springs and the chair.

This.  And I am also 5 ft as well.

[Otterpop]

I for one ALWAYS put my feet up, in the cinema, in a meeting, at church, on a train or bus, wherever I am.

This is because i am short - five feet tall - and if i sit in a normal chair, my feet do not touch the ground. If you sit like this for any length of time, it becomes very uncomfortable, and can result in a bad back. I have suffered a lot of sciatica in the past, and sitting in a chair when your feet cannot touch the ground for any length of time excerberates that.

Where I work now, I turn a plastic bin upside down and put it under my desk, and rest my legs on that. Not always possible to carry a plastic bin around with you, though!

It may not be particularly ladylike, but maybe cinemas, buses and trains should consider lower chairs! i don't want to upset anyone or seem rude, but i don't want a trapped nerve in my back either!

That's why I need a footrest too (5'2")!  My legs go to sleep and back aches after about 1/2 hour.  We always try to get the seats behind the iron railing mid-theater in stadium seating (this requires getting there extra early) but if not, I'll sit to the side and put my feet up.  (They really should make a portable/foldable/purse friendly footrest for us shorties).  I can't say I've ever been bugged by other people theater habits aside from noise or kicking the back of my seat.

As far as dirt on the seat, again, these are public seats in which 1000s of men/women/children have occupied.  All manner of things have been tucked, smeared and spilled into them.   I'm really more worried about other peoples greasy/cootie hair on the headrest.  The hoodie/hat idea is really great.  I'm going more prepared from now on.

[DottyG]

As far as dirt on the seat, again, these are public seats in which 1000s of men/women/children have occupied.

I've been thinking throughout this thread that i wouldnt post this, but i think i will after all. Not going to go into a lot of detail here, but they've done studies on theater seats, and a little dirt from someone's shoes is not what you need to be concerned about. That's the cleanest of what you're actually sitting on.

There's a reason I wear my grungiest clothes and immediately remove them and wash them after seeing a movie.

[TurtleDove]

As far as dirt on the seat, again, these are public seats in which 1000s of men/women/children have occupied.

I've been thinking throughout this thread that i wouldnt post this, but i think i will after all. Not going to go into a lot of detail here, but they've done studies on theater seats, and a little dirt from someone's shoes is not what you need to be concerned about. That's the cleanest of what you're actually sitting on.

There's a reason I wear my grungiest clothes and immediately remove them and wash them after seeing a movie.

I was thinking the same thing!

[Sophia]

I for one ALWAYS put my feet up, in the cinema, in a meeting, at church, on a train or bus, wherever I am.

This is because i am short - five feet tall - and if i sit in a normal chair, my feet do not touch the ground. If you sit like this for any length of time, it becomes very uncomfortable, and can result in a bad back. I have suffered a lot of sciatica in the past, and sitting in a chair when your feet cannot touch the ground for any length of time excerberates that.

Where I work now, I turn a plastic bin upside down and put it under my desk, and rest my legs on that. Not always possible to carry a plastic bin around with you, though!

It may not be particularly ladylike, but maybe cinemas, buses and trains should consider lower chairs! i don't want to upset anyone or seem rude, but i don't want a trapped nerve in my back either!

Me, too.  I have short legs and scoliosis.  My knees need to be above my hips.  At work I have an upside down paper trash can for my feet.  I also almost always sit with one foot under the other thigh.  That removes the stress from the back. 

Although, we tend to gravitate toward the theaters with moveable armrests and not busy times.  (I really hate a crowded theater).  Then I put the armrest up next to me and sit sideways enough that my knees are on the chair, but my shoes are on and aren't on the chair. 

When in the private world, there is generally a selection of chairs and I can pick a chair that is either short, or wide enough for me to turn sideways. 

At home I have some chairs that used to be my parents kitchen chairs.  They are wood and had wheels, but the wheels started to fall off so they were removed.  I love those chairs!  They are 3" shorter than they used to be. 

[SoCalVal]

It's never bothered me unless someone's feet were on the seat next to me, which has happened before and I recall the guilty party taking her feet down after I turned and looked at her (I was a bit incredulous that she thought I'd be okay with someone's feet right next to my face).

I'm also pretty short, and I will often have to prop up my feet because they, otherwise, will dangle (it took me YEARS to figure out why I hated certain seats so much, like armless chairs, because if my feet were dangling, I needed, at least, to have something I could lean against so I could take the strain off my dangling legs, sometimes tucking a leg under me, which wasn't quite so easy with armless chairs).

I also figure if the theatre thought it worth policing, they would tell patrons not to put their feet up (we certainly are reminded all the time not to talk and not to use our cell phones).  The person who put up the biggest stink about where my feet went was a friend.  Even if I had no shoes on but socks or bare feet and it was just the bottoms of my feet touching the back of the seat or, even, my foot, shoeless or not, against the back of the seat because my legs were crossed (not hanging over the backrest), he'd still make a comment.  I think I learned to ignore him.