some of whom are clearly well off while others struggle to make ends meet. It just seems to me that little goodwill is likely to be engendered by accusations of tightfistedness when its root cause might be a basic shortage of funds.

I can see the other side on the food issue. Though this point is about movie theaters, not restaurants. If the UK is at all similar to the US, they charge an admission of several dollars then hope to gouge on the food prices to make more profit. But the snacks are the prohibitive part of the experience, so we would stick a couple of candy bars and a can of pop in a pocket and make do, if we wanted to eat. (Who needs all of that junk food, anyway, it's not good for you!)

In a different venue, many years ago where I worked in an office downtown, I was walking out of the building with my lunch in a bag when I ran into an old friend who I hadn't seen for a long time. He was going to a restaurant for lunch and I didn't have the budget that day and had already packed one. We walked over to where he was going to eat and he ordered and I ate my sandwich. The waitress came over and said they don't allow outside food in so I had to put my lunch away and sit and watch my freind eat because I couldn't order anything. Both the waitress and I were embarrassed as she realized I wasn't ordering something else, but there was nothing I could do about it. They had a prosperous restaurant and I wasn't going to break the bank by discreetly eating a sandwich. As I recall, I was so broke all I had was my bus fare, so I couldn't even order a drink. Those were the days, eh?

The practice of going into a venue that operates on a shoe string and trying to get something for nothing is different. I've been to a fair number of places that charge a cover charge during certain hours of the evening, because they know the patrons who are coming in are there to see the performer. I feel obligated to buy something to drink, but when I pay several dollars for the cover I don't feel bad about nursing it along. (Especially if it is yet another establishment that is going to charge a cover but doesn't have the courtesy to ban the smokers so I can sit there comfortably and listen. All it takes is one smoker in a modest sized room to pollute the place for everyone else, including the performers who are putting their lungs to good use.)

People can tell the nature of a business when they walk in, and some people need to decide that if they're committing the time to the musical outing they should commit some funds, also.

SRS