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I always sit in an aisle seat. I've had passengers try and retrieve heavy luggage when the flight lands, and the luggage is probably too heavy for them. The luggage has slipped from the overhead bin and landed on my shoulder and worse yet, my head. Ugh! I watch carefully now.
You fit more stuff if you let the natural balance of things fit in the space, regardless of position.
If row 21 has four people who happen to not have baggage it doesn't make sense to leave that empty when others could use it to stow their things. The people with less offset the people with more (to a point) but that doesn't work if people are assigned set areas for baggage.
But the problem is when the people in row 21 do have baggage, but the people from row 36 have too much stuff and the first empty space they see is in row 21... so now row 21 arrives and there's nowhere to put their bags. Maybe they find space in row 15. Now what do the people in row 15 do? Etc.
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Originally Posted by TheShadow
I can't stand it when I'm trying to read, or close my eyes and relax, and the person next to me wants to talk and quite literally tell me their life story. I don't mind small talk and chit-chat as we settle in, and I've had some very nice conversations with other passengers over the years, but sometimes I just want to be quiet and read. I've had to resort to using headphones a few times to shut up a few Chatty Cathies. I hate feeling like I have to apologize for not wanting to converse..."I'm sorry I'm at a very intense part of this book and I really would like to get through it. I hope you understand."
The worst was someone who really wanted to talk as I was flying cross country to help my sister whose husband was dying. I found out 5 minutes before boarding that my BIL had just passed away. I'm trying to hold my s*** together and seatmate wants to chat. I really didn't want to have to explain my mood, or answer any questions at that time because I knew I would just lose it.
Learn to say "I'm sorry, I don't speak English" in an obscure language?
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Originally Posted by IndyDancer
Re: waiting as long as possible to sit down.... I'm the opposite, even though I have an assigned seat. I always get a window seat, and I want enough time to prevent/resolve any situation where someone tries to take my seat. It happened to me once years (decades?) ago when I was too young and naive to protest... a woman who had the aisle seat was sitting in my window seat when I got there and asked if I wouldn't mind trading. Now I would refuse unless there was a really good reason and I wouldn't hesitate to call a flight attendant over.
I prefer the window and like to get there early so I'm there first and not climbing over the other people in my row/making them get up (and hold up everyone behind me...).
That's hilarious! NYC is one of the biggest tourist traps in the whole world. People who live there (I used to) do "know their business" but the throngs of tourists are standing around and gawking at everything and totally oblivious to their surroundings.
Have you ever even been there?
I have . You just said yourself people who live there know their business. Sorry, I don't hang out in Times Square.
Hotel rooms with only one nightstand. We recently had a room with two queen beds and one tiny nightstand with a lamp, phone, and screwed-on tv remote holder taking up the entire tabletop.
But the problem is when the people in row 21 do have baggage, but the people from row 36 have too much stuff and the first empty space they see is in row 21... so now row 21 arrives and there's nowhere to put their bags. Maybe they find space in row 15. Now what do the people in row 15 do? Etc.
What they do is end up moving around last trying to find a place for their bag, and playing salmon against stream when plane touches down. However that person needing to do that is still better than way fewer bags being stowed because of empty assigned spots not being filled.
Learn to say "I'm sorry, I don't speak English" in an obscure language?
Well, that doesn't help if you then open a book in English!
I thought of a few related to kids (always a hot topic on FlyerTalk- I think some people think they belong into the overhead compartment). Mostly the behavior of the parents, who think they deserve extra space and perks because they've procreated. Preface: DS took his first plane flight with us when he was 6 weeks old and took many flights to see Grandma in Myrtle Beach. My granddaughter is 5 and already I've taken her on 2 plane trips. I believe in teaching kids good behavior and removing them from quiet spaces if they get unruly. So, I'm in full sympathy with people who travel with kids. But I digress...
1. Family that completely took over a corner of the gate area in MCI, putting their stuff all over empty seats while their kiddies played on the floor- so the kids had access to the seats as well, but nobody else did.
2. I once came through TSA at ORD, looking for a place to put my shoes back on and organize my carry-on stuff- and the nearest seat was occupied by a group with a baby- they were sitting there feeding it. Ummmm.. they couldn't have walked a few more steps to the gate area?
3. DH and I stayed in a hotel in the Orkneys with one room that was a lounge for guests. Two women with a pile of kids pretty much took it over as their personal living room. Sometimes they let the kids run around loose and "play" in the halls.
4. Oversized "lap children". If they're under 2 they fly free and, of course, there's no photo ID to prove their age. Miserable for everyone. I started getting DS his own seat when he was a year old; settled into his FAA-approved car seat he was a much better flier. I was really ticked off when I once had just about the only unoccupied middle seat next to me (I had the window) from EWR to SEA and an oversized lap child a couple of rows over was fine if she sat in the empty seat next to her Mom- but then the person holding the ticket to that seat came aboard and the kid became a screaming you-know-what when Mom tried to hold her. After we hit cruising altitude the passenger next to Mom moved to the empty seat next to me and the little brat got her own way- and her own seat. I KNOW I didn't own the empty middle seat and it kept the peace but was still disgruntled.
I have . You just said yourself people who live there know their business. Sorry, I don't hang out in Times Square.
Times Square isn't the only place that tourists go in NYC - they are everywhere - that was my point. NYC is one giant tourist trap!
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. You just said yourself people who live there know their business. Sorry, I don't hang out in Times Square.
