As the mom of 3 children who have Orchestra, Band, Variety Show, Chorus and just about any other performance you can name to attend, I have an open plea to all parents everywhere.
Buy a friggin' camera or video recorder with a small screen and stop subjecting the rest of us to your inability to understand the etiquette of technology.
Your iPad may have a camera app on it, but it is not a camera, so just STOP IT NOW.
Do you have any idea how annoying it is to sit in a darkened auditorium and see a 7.5" x 9.5" REALLY bright screen directly in your line of vision while you are trying to not tear up over your child having his final concert at his school?
Oh - you don't? Well, let me show it to you again!
And as I turned around in my seat, I saw about 15 other iPads/large tablets being used as video recording devices!
And let's not even get in to the fact that the recording at these types of events (low light around the user, bright light on the stage) is notoriously horrible!
Yes - I know that your first-year prodigy is mastering "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the clarinet and I was SO there with you as a proud parent 3 years ago when my child first started with an instrument.
But even in my PROUDEST "Mommy Moments", I have always had consideration for the people around me. Just as I wouldn't stand up in the middle of a performance to get the best picture, I wouldn't pull out a HUGE distracting device in order to document the time that my child demonstrated their proficiency with "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
You may as well hold up your iPad in my line of vision while you play "Words With Friends" or check your Facebook. It is large and bright and it is annoying.
And you look like a jerk.
So please - just stop it!
