This one will always stick in my mind:

It was New Year's Day, 1973. Freezing, bitter cold. I took Sue, my date, to see Peter O'Toole in The Ruling Class at the Avenue M movie theatre in Brooklyn.

It was a fairly decent size movie house, with the main level divided into three seating sections - left, center (the largest) and right. There was also a double-door exit along each side wall and no rows of seats near those doors so access would be easy after the movie.

We were sitting in the left hand section, around two or three rows back from the "aisle" leading to the side exit. The staff had been having an ongoing problem with a young (younger than us) group of jerks who were loud, throwing things, etc. Finally, they were evicted from the theatre, and none too quietly.

We settled in to watch the rest of the film in peace, but around ten minutes later we heard a huge boom - we thought it was an explosion, but those kids had kicked open the side doors from outside. Bone-chilling arctic air came rushing in, and right to where we were sitting. Then a huge (around 7 foot) Christmas tree came literally flying into the theatre like a rocket, just narrowly missing some employees who were going over to shut the doors.

I think we stayed to catch the next showing of the film, considering all we had missed due to the unscheduled "floor show".

The Avenue M theatre is long gone, but Sue and I have remained friends.

Truly a day to remember.

Signor V.