Trip Advisor: Be considerate of others at a museum
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Q: Can you talk about museum etiquette?
First, how long should one stand in front of a particular painting if others are waiting to look at it? I'm thinking of, for example, Dali's "Persistence of Memory" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
It's very famous, so pretty much everyone who visits the museum wants to see it, but it's quite small. The last time I was there, on a crowded Saturday afternoon, some girl stood directly in front of it, blocking everyone else's view, for a relatively long time.
And second, what do you think about people listening to audio tours on their mobile phones? Shouldn't they be using headphones?
A: A museum is like any other public place -- if you're not the only one there, you need to be aware of your surroundings and make sure you're not doing anything to annoy anybody else. Monopolizing a painting, particularly a small and popular one, is annoying. The girl should have realized this and stepped back.
Now, I fully understand wanting to gaze at a piece of art to appreciate its details (and that particular painting is nothing if not amazingly detailed), but you have to be considerate. For example, if you intend to spend an hour staring at a painting because you need to write a paper about it for your art-history class, you should visit the museum when it's not crowded (i.e., not Saturday afternoon).
As for audio tours, using your own headphones is much more pleasant than borrowing some ancient, crackly headset. But you have to use headphones. If others want to hear the audio tour, they can download their own copy.
Q: I have a zip-up fleece that I like to wear as a sweater, without anything underneath it. Do you think I'll have problems wearing it through the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint? Technically, I suppose it is a jacket, and I know they tell you to take jackets off .
A: I've seen TSA agents ask people wearing fleece jackets to remove them and put them through the X-ray machine. However, all of those people were wearing something underneath (thank heavens).
If you wear yours, and it looks like a jacket, then yes, someone might ask you to remove it. At that point, you should just politely explain that you're wearing it as a sweater without another layer of clothing underneath. But really, wouldn't it be easier to wear a T-shirt under your fleece when you fly, or to wear something else entirely?
First Published January 22, 2012 12:00 am
