This past weekend I joined a big group of my friends to go and see Avengers: Age of Ultron as a birthday event. IMAX 3D in my area is reserved seating when you buy your ticket. My friends mentioned which seats they had and we’re a pretty big group so everyone buys their own tickets. We’re booking in advance, so it should be pretty easy right?

Here’s the issue: When reserving tickets online, Cineplex will not allow you to reserve a seat if you’d be leaving a single seat in the row. So if B17 is taken, seat B18 and B19 are free, and B20 is taken as well, you cannot book just B18. I could generally understand this policy, but as a single person, this blows. If I want to go and see movies with my friends who are a couple (which is pretty damned common when you’re 28), you either have to either:

A) Have them pay for your ticket and you pay them back
B) You buy all 3 and have them pay you back
C) Have your friends pick a spot in the theater that has loads of space beside them and pray that another couple doesn’t pick a spot too close to them before you’re able to buy your ticket.

So my group books their tickets and there are 3 spots left in the row next to them. My friend goes to book two of them, but is rejected because that would leave 1 seat on it’s own. So she ends up having to book in a different row away from my friends. Unaware of her booking issues, I go to book next. Two spots remaining next to my group. I’m single, just booking for myself, but want to be near my friends. Nope, can’t leave a single seat available. Well, damn it. I end up having to book a seat down the row from them, completely separated. I checked shortly before the movie and the two seats next to my friends are still free, so before the movie starts I sit next to my friends praying no one actually booked those spots. Turns out I am not that lucky, as the usher comes over with two gentlemen who had bought those tickets. I’m not a jerk (or at least like to think I’m not), apologize, and move to the spot I’d reserved, between a bunch of random strangers.

Well, that sucked. If I’m seeing a movie on my own I don’t mind sitting next to random people, but being separated from a group I’d gone with suddenly feels pretty lonely. But the kindness of strangers keeps surprising me.

The two gentlemen who sat next to my group were very apologetic, even though they’d done nothing wrong. I was in their seat. Upon realizing what had happened when they saw I was separated from my group, they asked the people between them and me if they’d consider moving into my spot, so everyone could slide down one seat so that I could sit next to my friends. The folks in between us were really hesitant, but they argued my case for me without my having said a word.

I know being moved away from my friends isn’t the end of the world, but those two guys really made my day.

So I guess the moral of the story is this: Cineplex, your IMAX seating policy blows for single people, and people are awesome.