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This happened on transatlantic flight from London some years ago.
I had located my seat, put my stuff underneath the seat in front of me (don't like using the overhead compartments, since there's so rarely any room in them, plus you can't get anything out of them until after takeoff), and I was delighted to find that the seat next to me was empty. I had the window seat, and a very nice English lady had the aisle seat.
Okay, no problems there.
Across the aisle, there was a very large man putting some of his things in the overhead compartment. Since his seat was not on the aisle, the woman in the aisle seat had to vacate her seat so that he could reach the compartment.
This woman... was NOT happy about this turn of events. She complained constantly and loudly that he was taking too long, he had too much stuff, he was taking too long, she was sick, she shouldn't be standing (then why the hell didn't she sit down again?), she was sick, he was so inconsiderate, she was sick. You get the idea.
Meanwhile, she was blocking the aisle so that the other passengers couldn't get to their own seats.
The large man finally sat again, so she sat, most likely still bitching at him.
THEN - he got up AGAIN to go through his things. And the whole rigmarole started again; she was sick, she shouldn't be standing, he was so inconsiderate - and, once again, she was blocking the aisle.
The man summoned a flight attendant. When the attendant arrived, he pointed to the woman and said, "I can't sit next to this woman. She's driving me mad." (Yes, those were his words, verbatim.)
The flight attendant told him that he would do his best to find another seat, but for right now, everyone needed to sit down and buckle up, since the plane needed to leave. More bitching from both the man and the woman; the poor attendant exerted a great deal of diplomacy to get them both in their seats.
The man eyed the seat next to me and asked, "Is anyone sitting there?"
"Yeah," the nice English lady in the aisle seat told him, "We're sitting here."
As I said, the man was very large, and the thought of him sitting and sweating heavily right next to me was horrifying; I'm sure that it was equally horrifying to the nice English lady.
We got in our seats, the middle seat remained unoccupied, the plane took off, the man was moved to another seat.
His unhappy seatmate told me later how inconsiderate he was, she was sick and couldn't stand for very long, etc. I'm only glad I wasn't sitting next to her.
Or him.
I had located my seat, put my stuff underneath the seat in front of me (don't like using the overhead compartments, since there's so rarely any room in them, plus you can't get anything out of them until after takeoff), and I was delighted to find that the seat next to me was empty. I had the window seat, and a very nice English lady had the aisle seat.
Okay, no problems there.
Across the aisle, there was a very large man putting some of his things in the overhead compartment. Since his seat was not on the aisle, the woman in the aisle seat had to vacate her seat so that he could reach the compartment.
This woman... was NOT happy about this turn of events. She complained constantly and loudly that he was taking too long, he had too much stuff, he was taking too long, she was sick, she shouldn't be standing (then why the hell didn't she sit down again?), she was sick, he was so inconsiderate, she was sick. You get the idea.
Meanwhile, she was blocking the aisle so that the other passengers couldn't get to their own seats.
The large man finally sat again, so she sat, most likely still bitching at him.
THEN - he got up AGAIN to go through his things. And the whole rigmarole started again; she was sick, she shouldn't be standing, he was so inconsiderate - and, once again, she was blocking the aisle.
The man summoned a flight attendant. When the attendant arrived, he pointed to the woman and said, "I can't sit next to this woman. She's driving me mad." (Yes, those were his words, verbatim.)
The flight attendant told him that he would do his best to find another seat, but for right now, everyone needed to sit down and buckle up, since the plane needed to leave. More bitching from both the man and the woman; the poor attendant exerted a great deal of diplomacy to get them both in their seats.
The man eyed the seat next to me and asked, "Is anyone sitting there?"
"Yeah," the nice English lady in the aisle seat told him, "We're sitting here."
As I said, the man was very large, and the thought of him sitting and sweating heavily right next to me was horrifying; I'm sure that it was equally horrifying to the nice English lady.
We got in our seats, the middle seat remained unoccupied, the plane took off, the man was moved to another seat.
His unhappy seatmate told me later how inconsiderate he was, she was sick and couldn't stand for very long, etc. I'm only glad I wasn't sitting next to her.
Or him.