I was on a flight headed to Tokyo. The flight is 11 hrs long and the plane is completely packed. I was booked in an aisle seat and next to me is a little girl of about 8. Her mother is three seats in front of me in a window seat. I prefer an aisle seat because of the extra elbow room I can use while typing. A ton of writing can be done on an 11 hr flight. I, of course, moved seats for this woman which allowed her to sit next to her daughter. After getting settled in my new window seath, that flight was cancelled and I was put on another flight. I again requested an aisle seat and was lucky enough to get another seat on the aisle. I’m in my seat before takeoff and a member of the cabin crew asks if I would switch aisle seats with a woman who had an injured right leg and it would be helpful if she could extend her leg in the aisle. So I switched seats a left aisle for a right aisle to accommodate a woman with an injured leg.

Well it turns out the new seat I was in had no person in the seat to my right. So I HAD AN AISLE with no one next to me. The flight was quite full with very few empty seats and I got one after switching. The woman I switched with had a person next to her. Would you believe that the woman with the bad leg asks me to switch again so she could have the empty seat and extend her leg under the empty seat on the right. I said no.

I have to admit I feel a little bad about refusing to change seats for a third time, but I can live with the rationalization that she went with the sure thing of a seat with leg room she needed and I obliged her to do that. It was good enough but why should I help her to a better seat at my detriment. We switched relatively equal for me to be better for her. So why should I move down in comfort and elbow room so she can be more comfortable?

Here I am on the flight, elbows spread out and typing away. I’m working on a lot of stuff for the trip, this is a work trip, and taking time out to blog on the little musical chairs I’ve had to endure. Yeah, I do feel bad, but not enough to affect my sleep tonight.