That's my seat

Some things never change...no matter how many choirs I sing in...whether they are church choirs or symphony choirs, some things are constant.  Where one sits clearly matters.

As the newbie in my local community choir, I clearly must learn the hierarchy of "who sits where".  As I write this, I should qualify this statement by adding that this phenomen applies primarily to women singers and gets progressively worse as the women in the choir age.  Thankfully, men could care less...rightfully so.

Let  me explain.

I arrived right at the stroke of 8 PM last evening for my regular Tuesday night choir rehearsal.  This spring, the choir is performing Elijah by Mendelssohn.  In this work, some of the score is divided into eight vocal parts, requiring me to sit in the same area as my fellow Soprano IIs.  As I proceeded to take a vacant seat in the SII section, I was almost seated when I heard, "That seat's taken."

Oh, OK, so sorry.  I moved to the next open seat I saw only to hear, "That seat's saved."  Wow, well OK...it was a bit after 8 pm and the person was clearly late.  I began to think "Possession is 9/10s of the law" when I thought...the person saving the seat clearly possessed the seat. 

OK...I spied a third open seat.  As I began to take a seat, I was told, "You can't sit there, that is Hazel's regular seat!"  My frustration was starting to surface as I thought but did not verbalize, "Well, where in the tarnation is Hazel then?".  I, however, moved on to the final remaining open seat only to be told that I had now veered in the Soprano I section.

Ladies, come on!  I sat down anyway.

I am such a rebel.