I didn't know going to the theatre was dangerous!

Yesterday my in-laws, husband children and I went in to downtown Detroit to see "Sesame Street Live" at the Fox Theatre. It is a beautiful old theatre, designed back in the good old days, with a marble staircase, gilt statues, velvet seats... it transports you back to the 20's. Well, I took my crocheting bag with me so I could keep my hands busy while waiting for the show to start (yes, I'm that obsessed!). As we were filing in I noticed there were metal detectors at the doors. "Hmmm," I thought, "I wasn't expecting that." When the security man asked to look in my bag I told him I'd probably set off the metal detector because I had a small pair of scissors (to cut the yarn) in my bag. I was told I could not bring them into the theatre so I had to bring them back to my car. I complied, rules are rules after all, but the whole experience has made me a little sad.

I assume there have been some problems with people bringing knives or guns into the theatre. (Either that or they were worried I was a terrorist or something.) I am not sure what they thought a suburban housewife with her family was going to do with a 5 inch long pair of scissors... did they think I'd rush the stage and give Elmo a haircut? However it is, it is a sad commentary on our society that theatres (and sports arenas for that matter) have to take such precautions to keep violence out.