Numerically Challenged
KIRK IRWIN (faculty, interior architecture) writes:
The other night I decided at the last minute that I wanted to attend an orchestra concert. Barenboim was to conduct his Berlin orchestra in Florence. I had never heard him conduct one of the German orchestras and knew that the opportunity to do so might not present itself for some time. So with an hour remaining before the concert, I walked quickly to the concert hall to purchase a ticket. For the benefit of anyone who keeps track of these things, they did Mahler's 7th - not one of Mahler's greatest hits. I enjoyed the performance anyway.
The seat numbers in the concert hall are placed on the back of the seats, so it is difficult to find the correct seat. I found my seat, then an American couple approached me: "Scuzzi, scuzzi, uhh, uhh..."
I interrupted and asked, "Do you speak English?"
The gentleman said, "Yes," and I said, "Me too," to their relief. I showed the couple how the seats were numbered on the backs of the seats rather than on the arms, which would have made more sense. With my helpful observation they were able to find their seats.
The seats were numbered consecutively, unlike the buildings outside. Sometimes the building numbers in Florence skip a dozen or so numbers without skipping buildings, and sometimes the street numbers on one side of the street do not correspond directly with the numbers on the other side of the street. This is a challenge for Chicagoans living in Florence, since we are accustomed to giving directions and tracking our location in Chicago based on a coordinate grid.