Stay here, wait for backup

Have you ever watched a movie where at the ending just before the climax, the hero says to the heroine or sidekick:

"I'm going in, stay here and wait for backup"

or

"I need you to stay here, I work better alone"

Now usually, the heroine or sidekick is either:

1. dumb
2. doesn't understand instructions
3. thinks hero's life less important than her curiousity
4. is a dog and hasn't learn the sit command yet

The heroine or sidekick sneaks in and follows the hero and usually gets the hero into trouble, giving the bad guy a bargaining chip over the hero. Either the bad guy takes the heroine hostage and puts a gun to her head and the hero can't shoot him out right or gets beaten up badly by the bad guy.

Take for instance the remake of Planet of The Apes.

In the ending, Mark Walberg tells a boy to wait behind while they ride out to bait the apes into a trap. The stupid boy rides out too and for no apparent reason, the dumb horse he was riding on falls down and traps his leg.

Mark Walberg has to run out to rescue him. Just after he pulls the boy out from under the horse, the dumb horse gets up and runs away. I have a feeling the horses were up to their own animal revolt. After the apes revolted against the humans, the horses probably wanted a piece of the action. Making the boy fall was just a way for the horse to get back at the dumb humans. Anyway, if the boy had listened to Marky in the first place, the movie would have been shorter by 5 minutes.

Sometimes I find myself in these type of situations too. I tell my nephew or nieces to stay home while I take my mother out to buy something. They will make a fuss by crying and wailing and want to follow.

It's so irritating. I know if I bring them along, they'll just be running of somewhere and they don't understand instructions!

Another situation is when I want to go out and do some actual shopping instead of window shopping at shopping malls. I don't like to have people hanging around me when I buy stuff. I'm deep in thoughts when I pick stuff and I have my own wierd sense of judgement that I don't want to explain to people why I choose A over B and C.

Especially when I'm editing, I don't like anyone else watching over my shoulder. That's one unspoken editor's rule. Never sit behind someone while they're editing.



It's very irritating. When you're in your mojo, editors don't like to have to explain themselves while working. It's like having a back seat driver, only 10 times worst. When I'm editing, I always lock the door.

So the next time someone says to you, "stay here"... it means "stay here", not "come on, I love it when you get me in trouble!"