Will Norfolk paradegoers get behind premium seats?

These behinds can't go just anywhere. They deserve the best seats, no matter the venue, no matter the surcharge.

In Vegas, at the most froufrou of resorts, high rollers can pay extra to move their chairs directly into the sunlight by the pool.

On airplanes, impatient fliers can pay extra to get in front of the boarding line, sit on the runway a little longer and deplane about three minutes earlier than everyone else, all in the name of better seats.

This philosophy of pay-to-place-your-patootie extends to parades as well.

In Indianapolis, Hoosiers can pay $18 for a chair at the IPL 500 Festival Parade. In New York City, deep-pocketed fans can drop hundreds of dollars for a great seat at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. And in Fort Worth, Texas, spectators with $25 are privileged to hot cocoa, a semiprivate port-a-potty and a chair at the Christmas parade.

Now, have a seat and get out your wallet. It's gonna cost you to park that thing.

At this weekend's holiday parade in Norfolk, for the first time, spectators can pay for "Street Seats." For $10, locals have the opportunity to plop down in a handsome, white wooden chair clumped along Waterside Drive in front of the marketplace or the or Town Point Park and watch as Santa floats by.

This is the upgrade, the super-size. This is life in the real world, a world that now has about 900 seats available for Saturday's parade. Each section will feature three rows of chairs, tested for maximum comfort and visibility.

"They're all good seats," said Mary Miller, vice president for the Downtown Norfolk Council, the organization that coordinates the parade. (I kept waiting for Miller to say, "You won't use the whole thing! You'll just sit on the edge!" but she never took the bait.)

The thinking behind adding the seats is simple: officials are betting that some people don't want to show up hours early, wait on the curb to hold spots before the parade begins and repeatedly tell others the nearby spots are taken. (Santa and his sleigh don't move that fast these days.) Instead, viewers can buy a seat and not worry about finding a place to watch the parade.

Better yet, the fees pay for the rented chairs and help offset the difference between the cost of the parade and the amount covered by sponsors. All that makes sense. The simple act of making the seats available - and their subsequent sales - speaks to the popularity of a parade that tens of thousands of people watch each November.

Downtown Norfolk Council folks stress that the parade is still a free event and are anxious about selling the Street Seats this first year. That's understandable.

It's the right idea. The best seats are good business. When given the opportunity, people are willing to shell out big bucks and act as though a duct-taped lawn chair is Queen Elizabeth's throne.

But when I venture out in the cold this Saturday to enjoy the grand illumination, I'll sit my butt where I'm comfortable: on the curb - if I can find room.

I'm happy to pack it in close and stretch my neck when I need to. I'll cheer for the best high school marching band. For a few sappy moments Saturday, before the pre-pre-Black Friday sales and turkey leftovers, I'll feel like we are all in this crazy world together.

Then someone inevitably will spill a juice box on my jeans or step on my foot trying to get a free refrigerator magnet from a float sponsored by a heating and cooling company.

I'll be surrounded by a crowd of onlookers in beach chairs from their garage, wearing Snuggies and sipping hot chocolate. In other words, premium seating.

Mike Gruss, (757) 446-2277, mike.gruss@pilotonline.com, PilotOnline.com/gruss