Last night, Ana and I went to a movie. In a movie theater. It was our return to movie theaters in over two years, I think. We couldn’t remember the last time we “went” to a movie. Last week we saw a movie but it was in a huge room with like 10 people, spaced out from each other, all vaccinated and all masked. It felt safe. It wasn’t a theater but it was a movie that was featured in Berlinale that we didn’t get to see.

But Wes Anderson’s new movie is out in theaters only. It was released this past weekend. He is one of my all time favorte directors and I was dying to see it. In a theater. A whole experience.

I have been nervous about going to a movie in a theater. I know people have been going for months now but every time Ana suggested it I started to feel panic rise in me. BUT we have now tried a restaurant inside(not wanting to make a habit of it) and we have been cautious and the movie theater requires vaccination and we decided to go on a Monday after school holidays. So I suggested it. For Wes Anderson and the experience.

We bought our tickets in advance over the weekend and placed reserved our seats. It’s a Monday, we reasoned. It should be sparse. No one goes on a Monday, right?

Wrong. It was packed. Every single seat in the theater last night.

Now. Yes, every vaccination was checked. Yes, people wore masks in transit. BUT no one wore masks while seated. I am assured by the website there is air flow. I am not certain about it but I want to trust it.

The movie was great. Still the Royal Tenenbaums is my all time fav of this director but I loved the acting and actors. Ana enjoyed herself as well even though we both had moments of, “what are we doing here?”

What I have been reflecting on today as I am nannying all day today, is what we are so eager to return to! The theater was packed full of 20-30 somethings (and myself at 40) eager to have this experience of this director on a Monday night in this place. We are hungry for the communal movie goer experience. We could easily wait at home for this to stream somewhere as I am sure it will soon but I understand the want. I am right there with them. I am not eager to jump back into a restaurant after recent experiences but I did turn to Ana and remind her that Mondays are cheaper and it was so nice to be in a movie for a few hours and forget about everything else. I am already plotting how we can go to another movie and perhaps a less popular one on another Monday night…perhaps an older release so its not so many people. But still, I am eager to return to this experience.

It strikes me that there are some things we are not eager to return to. Office work. Some church services. Meetings in person that could easily be online. Some classes and yet clearly the world is hungry to return to some forms of community. Movies. Eating together. Live music. The bar experience for some. It will be a long time before I enter a packed bar at all but I understand the appeal. Theater. Etc. There is something in us that is yearning for this kind of contact. Even for the introverts in our midst.

The numbers are rising again here. They are higher than in May and yet our collective memory is waning on what to do then. We are tired. I have even let down my guard although I feel it creeping back up in front of me even with vaccinations on the rise too here. Although try to stop me from a Christmas market this year, and someone may get hurt. We shall see what happens. So many mixed feelings in one place.

How are you doing with all of this?