Last week, this article starting circulating and lots of commenters brought it to our attention. A woman in Grapevine, Texas was hit with a $260 fine because some dummy was texting, she tapped on his shoulder to ask him to stop, and he charged her with assault.
From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Meet Dale Fout and Brenda Godwin. One weekday in April, they both went to a movie theater in Grapevine. Sat a row apart. Didn't know each other. By coincidence, they were born in the same year, two days apart. Both are 54. Fout, a marketing consultant, describes himself as a 220-pound "pretty big guy. I'm broad. I'm not fat. Used to play football." Godwin says she is a 136-pound skin care specialist. Here's how they met in the theater.
Her side
"He had his phone out. The light was shining at me. I'm thinking, 'He's going to turn it off.'" But he didn't. 'OK, this is ridiculous.' So I reached over and tapped him on the shoulder. It was very bright. I was only trying to get his attention. He whipped around and said, 'Don't ever touch me.' I was a little taken aback. 'I wouldn't have touched you if you didn't have your phone out.'
"He jumps up and whirls around towards me and says, 'I am charging you with assault,' and he flew out of the theater."
His side
"I got a text, and I responded to it because it was something important. It was something that was on a deadline situation, OK. I held it against my chest purposely where I could barely see it. ... I could text but hide the majority of the light coming from the phone.
"She said something. I couldn't make it out. That's why I turned. She was probably saying something like, 'Get off your phone.' I turned, and she pushed. She just happened to push my neck at the time my neck was in an awkward position. Kinda like having a little fender bender, and you get a little whiplash in your neck, you know."
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So, that being said, Alamo CEO Tim League has a message for all of you:
"If you get fined for tapping a texter on the shoulder to tell them to quit at any Alamo Drafthouse, send me the bill and I will personally pay it for you out of my own pocket.
Remain vigilant.
Tim League
Founder
Alamo Drafthouse"
So don't let the stories about dummies like Dale Fout (please check out his response for more confirmation that he is, in fact, a dummy) scare you. Texting in the theater is annoying and distracting, and if you do it, you are dubbed a Fout. Don't be a Fout.
(Photo by Annie Ray)