Seat Down And Choose Your Battles

(I’m talking to an elderly patron on the phone. He’s buying tickets to the most recent show.)

Me: “I can get you two seats in the middle of orchestra right, row C.”

Patron: “I don’t want them near the far end. What seat numbers are they?”

Me: “C8 and C10.”

Patron: “No, I want two seats together.”

Me: “They are together; the seats in orchestra right are numbered by even numbers and orchestra left is odds.”

Patron: “Oh, okay. How many seats are in this row?”

Me: “Ten, sir.”

Patron: “But you’re putting me in C10! That’s the last seat.”

Me: “No, sir, the seats go from C2 to C20.”

Patron: “That doesn’t make sense!”

Me: “As I said before, the orchestra right seats are assigned even numbers only.”

Patron: “I want to be in the middle!”

Me: “Yes, your seats are in the middle of the row. That last seat in this row is C20.”

Patron: “So there are twenty seats in this row?”

Me: *pause* “Yes.”