Take a seat

"Puck's in play!" yelled the strong-lunged fan a row behind me at the hockey game. The oblivious targets of his repeated cries were walking up the steps to their seats while there was action on the ice.

Ordinarily I've found that the ushers will make people wait to go to or return to their seats while the game is being played. It's only when a break in the action arrives--a held puck, a penalty, a puck gets knocked into the stands, a TV timeout--that they will let attendees fill the stairs. Otherwise they're blocking the views of those trying to watch.

This sports etiquette was new to me until I began going to hockey games, but I really appreciate it. People who want to see the game aren't inconvenienced by those making repeated trips to the concession stands during the action.

I can remember going to Opening Day for the Reds a few years ago and having a nearly constant stream of people walking to and from their seats throughout the game. Since the wanderers were between my seat on the first base side and home plate, my view was obstructed a lot. I would have loved an unwritten code encouraging everyone to stay put until after a play was over or, better than that, between half innings.

If , like tonight, the usher isn't enforcing this commonly accepted practice, the fans usually aren't shy about trying to police it themselves. More often than not the offenders respect the unspoken rule when their error is pointed out to them. Miss Manners would be proud, even if she might request that the bellowing fan take a gentler tone of voice in his attempts at enforcement.