Two couples on a Friday night out for an early dinner and a movie. One of the ladies used her credit card and reserved the four tickets in advance. Now we could have a leisurely dinner and not worry about standing on a long line and/or eventually getting "shut out" of the first-run movie.

Dinner at a local Italian restaurant went smoothly. I always enjoy Italian restaurants around the holiday season. They are so festive and the decorations are so bright and lively.

The time of the movie was 7:30 p.m. We passed on dessert and just had coffee (decaf) and cappuccino. Even with no dessert the time slipped away to 7:15 p.m.

We were very close to the theater, but we put on our coats and started to hurry a bit. The driver dropped off three of us and went to park the car. The reservations machine spit out four tickets dutifully when the proper numbers were punched in.

The Cineplex lobby was wild with activity as we rushed to the right theater. There were seven shows going on at once.

Upon entering our particular show place, it became evident. Voila, there were no seats in the middle or back, but only seats in the first two rows. We had been so laid-back and now we were going to pay the price.

Each performer looked the size of a small building. Every hair on the beard of the super-star stood out like a pine tree in a forest. Our necks were craned at an odd angle and our seats were pushed back as much as possible. The sound was clear - too clear - as we were on top of the loudspeakers.

Amazingly enough, after about a half-hour of this discomfort, it became bearable. As the plot unfolded we forgot our obvious lack of ease and entered into the swing of things. Soon we were engrossed and our suffering was almost "unremembered."

When the movie ended, we re-adjusted our twisted bodies into a normal standing position. We four were the last group to leave the theater after donning our coats and shuffling up the aisle behind all the others.

It was a lesson learned through bitter experience.

Next time - no dawdling - no relaxed dinner - no dillydallying.

Get there in time to see the 25 Coming Attractions!

P.S. - Some nominations for Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman were Gene Hackman, Paul Muni, Ed Asner and Paul Neuman.

Thanks for the response.