Last Friday night was "Parents Night Out" at Sam's day care. For $20, they babysit the kids from 6:30 - 10:00pm, and dinner is included. They do this once a month and that's usually all the babysitting we need for a night out here and there. On Friday we decided to see a movie instead of going out to dinner, our usual outing. The Dark Knight was still playing at a nice theatre just 8 miles away and it started at 6:55pm - giving us just enough time to get there after dropping off Sam. We loved Batman Begins and really wanted to see this sequel in the theater, so we felt very lucky that it worked out so well.
It was raining that night so I worried about traffic delays, but getting there was no problem. I got the tickets while Adam parked, we raced in for popcorn and soda, and had just enough time to visit the restroom before the previews began. Perfect!
About an hour into the movie it occurred to me that those previews had gone on for quite a while, and movies tend to be so long now that we might be cutting it close for Sam's 10 o'clock pickup. I checked my watch - it was 8:05. I forgot about it.
By 8:45, I was thinking about it again. Why didn't we think to check the running time? I guess we figured 3 1/2 hours had to be plenty of time. It felt like the movie was about to end, but I'd been feeling that way every time the scene changed for the past 10 minutes. At 9:05, I whispered to Adam that we might have to leave before it was over. It was only a 15 minute drive, but we had never been to this theater before. Sometimes it takes 10 minutes just to get out of the parking lot at a busy, mall-based theater like this one. And I had to go to the bathroom. And it was raining. And it was Friday night. What would they do with Sam if we were late? I've actually had nightmares about forgetting to pick her up at day care, so I started to get anxious.
By 9:15 I was freaking out and I didn't process the end of the movie at all. It finally ended at 9:30. Some people applauded. I stood up so fast that I accidentally pulled a woman's hair by grabbing at the seat in front of me so that I could gain that fraction of a second. Adam gallantly indulged me and rushed to the car while I went to the ladies room. I was so stressed out that I criticized his driving the whole way back - I really thought the car was just going to slide right off the wet road.
We made it back with 5 minutes to spare. I can't say that I learned a lesson from this about chilling out. Maybe that is the right lesson, but what I've decided is that I will never go out to a movie again without checking the running time.
We're going to have to rent The Dark Knight on video as soon as it comes out so I can see the end. I think it might have been quite a good movie.
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