Watching a Movie at Bryant Park

Have you ever seen the movie Wedding Planner where Jennifer Lopez watches a movie with Matthew McConaughey in the park? Well, I've always wanted to do that, and last night I had the chance to, albeit it was with another girl. Casablanca was the featured film of the night in Bryant Park. I went early around 4pm to reserve a spot on the lawn, which opened at 5pm. I thought to myself, This park is huuuuge, there will be plenty of room!


People came with their padded lawn chairs and king-sized sheets/blankets and were standing at the edge of the grass, ready to step foot on it...and there was still 15 minutes to 5pm. If you look closely, you can see the hundreds of people lined up on the other side of the lawn. Over the loud speakers, the lady announces, "It is now 5pm. You may enter the lawn!" Seriously, within a blink of an eye, before I could even make my way past the lawn chairs, people made a mad dash toward the center of park, hollering in excitement, quickly laying down their blanket to claim their spot. It was like David's Bridal was having a $100 sale for their best wedding gowns and the bridezillas pounced on them.


I managed to find a spot about three quarters from the back of the lawn and still had a good view of the screen. With 2 hours left before my friend would meet me, I laid down, closed my eyes and listened to my iPod. To add to that ambiance was the smell of moist grass, food, and feet.


An hour later, I opened my eyes to find a sh*tload of people surrounding me. Almost every square inch of the grass was covered with blankets, barely leaving any room for traffic. Some people brought balloons for their friends to easily locate them. Others just jumped up and down, waving their phones.


Several girls walked by and asked if it was okay for them to lay their blanket right next to mine. No problem, I thought. They laid their blanket on top of mine, reducing my already dismally small space, which was about 5 feet long and 2 1/2 feet wide. Then, to makes matter worse, one of the girls sits on top of my sheet. Whatever, I'll just wait to tell her to move when my friend comes. While I'm anxiously waiting for my friend to come (I had to pee, hence the anxious part), the girl who was sitting on top of my sheet was playing with her hair and her blonde strands shedded all over my sheet and purse. Gross! I hate it when I see my own hair on the floor! I wanted to pick up the hair and throw it back on her blanket. But I didn't.


Eventually my friend came and I was able to gradually nudge the girl off my space with my knee. I should have jousted her instead because she and her friends were smoking. Of all the people I had to sit by, they had to smoke! I hate smoke!

Throughout the movie, people would loudly cheer when Humphrey Bogart said his classic lines like, "Here's looking at you, kid" or when Bogart and Ingrid Bergman kissed or when the gay men behind me kissed. By the way, did you know that Bergman's character was married and had an affair with Humphrey's character? And this film is supposed to be romantic? Does anyone see anything wrong with people cheating on their spouses?! Anyways, by the time the movie was done, my back hurt and I was ready to sleep.