By Robert Simonson
07 Jul 2012

Question: I went to a showing at my local movie theatre this week, and the gentleman sitting "next" to me (there was one empty seat between us) snored pretty much the entire time, except for every few minutes when it seemed that his snoring would wake him up for a moment or two. I was thoroughly irritated, to say the least. I spent a good deal of time wanting to reach over and smack the guy, and if I'd been sitting behind him, I'm pretty sure I'd have "accidentally" kicked the back of his seat, at the very least. So it got me wondering: What is the proper etiquette for dealing with snoring audience members sitting next to you at a theatre?—Cassandra W. Bettendorf, Iowa

For this question, we again turned to Daniel Post Senning, and got some very similar counsel.

Again, he advised seeking out the help of someone in the theatre, someone with "standing," to address the situation. However, "You might be able to give them a nudge and say they'd nodded off, " he said. They may appreciate the gesture. Senning called this the "broccoli" rule. When someone has a bit of broccoli stuck between their teeth, they are almost always grateful to the person who points it out and save them public embarrassment.

However, added Senning, "You want to be very careful touching someone who's a stranger. How are you going to do it? It can be a little fraught." If the person keeps falling asleep and snoring after the initial nudging, it's best to alert the management.