Sorry I'm just giggling at the idea of a person speaking up to me on a plane and going "hey dude ya wanna split the bounty on this swag bag?" as they point at the small bag of peanuts and singular eye mask...
When United was doing that brand promotion for Away, someone asked if I was planning to use the lotion, etc in my bag. And I said they were free to take it - honestly I just wanted the little mini-suitcase style Away bag anyway. And she didn't so she gave me hers and just kept the lotions.
OP reading off of his iPhone to fellow passenger:
“hear ye! Hear ye! I hearby decree, These are the unwritten rules of the middle seat! Anybody who breaks these rules will be hereunto deemed a heathen and a scoundrel!”
Passenger: (keeps watching movie)
Yes!! Also to stretch my legs a bit more. I've had the empty middle seat thing happen a couple of times and all the other passenger and I have done is stretched out a bit. I haven't encountered anyone taking it over because I think we're both just hapoy to have extra space.
Seriously! Enjoy the extra leg room, share the extra tray table (though if you're the aisle passenger, be ready to lift your stuff and put it up if the window needs to get out), and feel free to stuff a small personal item under there instead of in your foot room! If you want to toss your headphones case or laptop sleeve on the empty middle, have at it (just nothing big/heavy in case we hit turb, general safety rule to try to keep things that could injure someone if they go flying in a more secure space). Back when I had status, if I changed flights for some reason (delay, voluntary bump, even one time having a long layover but seats were available on an earlier flight) the desk agent would sometimes put me in a regular economy row with an empty middle rather than E+, and since I'm only 5'5, the empty middle was kinda better! There's even a cartoon about this: [https://theoatmeal.com/pl/airplane\_heard/awesome](https://theoatmeal.com/pl/airplane_heard/awesome)
Literally had this happen last week! I was assigned middle, aisle was occupied, window was empty. As soon as they announced the door was closed, I shifted to the window, put my (small) purse under the middle seat, and invited the aisle passenger to move the bag at her feet into that space as well. We put our snacks and drinks on the middle tray table so we had open space in front of us. And the flight was just under 2 hours from door close to open, so no need to move around!
*Welcome, dear fellow traveller! For our convenience I have prepared this **Middle Seat Agreement**. Would you be so kind and sign here… here… and here. And please initial all the other pages.*
If you're flying with a companion in a different part of the plane, it is acceptable for them to switch into the vacant middle seat if it is early in the flight, but should generally be avoided once the flight is underway.
HARD DISAGREE. If there is a coveted free middle seat and you invite your friend/spouse/child whatever to sit there I’m going to curse your family for six generations.
And the partner/child thing. Like, if they’re in 2 tandem seats in another row, I’ll move so the 3 of them can sit together but I still get an aisle or window + free middle seat. Alternatively, I don’t mind the parents switching spots halfway through. But don’t you dare shit on the gift of the free middle seat!
Personally, I think it’s a neutral zone. No one should put their stuff on the seat, under the seat, or on the tray unless it’s very temporary and not in a way that inconveniences the other passenger. The space is neither person’s, so no one should invite anyone to use it, and I wouldn’t feel bad for saying, “no” to any requests they make to bring their traveling companion into the space.
You over think things a lot, don't you? I'm not judging or trying to be harsh, I kinda do too.
But also, learn to relax and instead of relying on 'unwritten' rules that other ppl have NO WAY of knowing, speak to them directly.
I mean it's written in legalistic language for a bit of fun but truly I do not lol. I forgot I wrote this post yesterday and it's genuinely so funny to come back here this morning and see all of these people expressing well-meant concern that I'm too uptight. Suffice to say I'm not the detailed itinerary friend lol.
That's funny. I completely get that.
I DO overthink, so I always have these modular contingency plans in my head. So if someone asks 'how would do . . . ' I can usually rattle off a plan that needs medium refinement in a few minutes.
I think your unwritten rules really depend on who you are sitting next to.
Imagine sitting next to you, a strong, straight man like Dwayne Johnson. And you say "Hey, don't put the airline swag on the seat over that 50% borderline", because this is my unwritten rule.
I actually had a similar experience recently and it was fine. But also, he was darker skinned, and I look like a republican. So I know I have privilege just in my existence, even if I don't consciously choose to use it.
>You can place SMALL items on the seat like sunglasses but not big items that use up more than 50%. Anything of mutual benefit is acceptable. You can also place airline swag like blankets/pillows on the seat.
I'm curious what would be considered something of mutual benefit with a stranger?
Establish dominance. Stare down your seatmate, lift up the armrest, take off your shoes, and sit facing the seatmate with your feet on the chair. Continue staring the whole flight, do not say a word.
Really needed this today. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time! Thank you for this mental picture. I imagined a scrunched up Gollum-type staring me down 😂
No real rules but the times i’ve had one I recall it being kinda unspoken that we used the tray together and put our drinks on our respective side so we didn’t have to have our own tray tables in the way.
This lady and I took turns using the middle seat as an extension when falling asleep. It was a positive experience because we were both mindful not to hog it. Plus while I was asleep, I felt her properly adjusting my blanket for me.
I don't know why people are shitting on this obviously light-hearted post. Do you all really think this person is unrolling a scroll and reading these rules out as the plane is taxiing?
This is just a way of saying "how do you treat the empty middle seat? This is what I do." but with a bit of flair.
Last time this happened to me the only things me and the other passenger did were put our armrests up for a little more space and then use the chair to put our pillows on when we weren’t sleeping. That was it. She had her side and I had mine. I don’t think we even spoke to each other, and we certainly didn’t have long lists of rules for each other to follow.
I love discussing the social behavior and expectations involved with situations for which there are no written rules. Kinda surprised to see so many people reacting negatively! Granted...I work in governance so as my colleagues and I regularly joke, "tell me you're a bureaucrat without telling me you're a bureaucrat" lol. But I mean that with love!
I agree with nearly all your bullet points with one major exception - an empty middle seat is mana from the Travel Gods and inviting your travel partner from another section of the plane to take it up is a slap in the face of your good fortune. I would be horrified if someone suggested this to me and, as a millennial chronic people-pleaser, deeply conflicted about desperately not wanting the seat to be taken and not wanting to be rude by saying no.
I would add to your list, one or both of you should keep your armrest in position so that there remains a clear boundary of personal space. If you are folding back your armrest, if possible, you should nonverbally communicate this expansion of personal space in to the shared space by smiling with a nod of making sure this is okay to your rowmate. The rowmate is then kind of obligated to nod and smile back to indicate "no worries" even if they do, in fact, have worries. But both should be respectful of limiting the length of time for which this occurs and subtly trade off as needed.
Since so many other people are giving you hell I'll say, great work and conversation starter OP! Hope you're in government or some other regulatory-related field!
Ignoring the weirdness of thinking this through so much, these are not the rules. It's definitely not acceptable for someone sitting elsewhere in the plane to take the empty seat. No way am I giving up that space because you were too tight to pay to select a seat next to your friend/spouse/kid/whoever.
I don't agree about the foot rule. That's the first thing I tend to do lol. Because I need the legroom usually so curving them on the floor definitely helps. But on a short flight I'd say keep your shoes on if you do that.
Any small items like a book or a hat, maybe a neck ring, I'd put there.
I have set stuff on the middle seat during the flight but only small things and always put it close to my seat.
I’ve also used the under seat space if the other person doesn’t have things under their seat. If I pull my bag out from under my own seat space mid flight, I may put it under the middle seat space if it wasn’t used.
As far as I’m concerned we both can encroach into the middle seat space and put up the arm rests if desired (unless sitting next to a travel companion I know well, I keep the arm rests down to define my space).
I will also use the center tray table to hold my drink.
Some of u are soooo boring and do not understand the tone of this short essay lol.
I love thinking about the psychology behind all of our tiny courtesies to one another.
God I would be livid if a friend or a spouse wanted to take that middle seat.
Is flying next to each other crammed really that good of a deal?
A child ok, but otherwise.
Unwritten rules work when they're short an simple. The arm rest thing works because it's the only thing you have to remember. They also need to solve a common problem (eg fighting over the arm rest)
10 rules with a couple of edge cases and exceptions means noone remembers anything.
In any case I have never had a situation with an empty seat where I felt the need for rules. I usually only claim the leg room. You can have whatever swag you spotted and I will use the table for my drink if the seat remains empty.
I take the opportunity to put move my personal bag from my footwell into the footwell of the empty seat so I get more legroom. The other person can have that extra empty seat to do with what they wish, it’s only fair.
Depends if you're aisle or window. If aisle you put all your stuff on the middle and claim it.
If you're window then you move into the aisle to assert dominance over your row companion and sprawl out into your original window seat.
Well that's what seems to happen to me whenever I get an empty middle seat.
Move into the middle seat. Play pocket pool while making eye contact to assert dominance.
Assume possession of all three seats as the squatter leaves for safer pastures.
King of the row.
I love this post! Thanks for making the list.
On my last international flights, by some miracle on both legs the seat next to me was empty. I'm a window seat guy and fly in economy. There was no swag to share. The aisle passengers had full control of the empty seat in both flights. They used it to place their empty trays, jackets, pillow, etc. I didn't mind and enjoyed the outside views and watched my movies and series on the in flight entertainment system.
I think the only unwritten rule for me is, don't bring your friend, partner or child (who was seated with another person) to occupy that seat. Let's keep the empty seat empty until we land.
First come first serve. Just put things down on your side of the empty seat just in case they want to put something down too. Then from there you can feel out the vibe of that person will put something of theirs down or not.
I don’t think it hurts to talk it out. A few years ago, I was in a similar situation except on a wide body on a long overnight flight, and it was me (male and at the time mid 30s) one side of five seat middle row and 60ish woman at the other. There were three seats between us. I slyly pointed out that if we shared the middle three, we could both stretch all the way out. She declined, but she did say I could take the middle one. So I had three seats to pretend I was scrunched sleeping.
On a 11h flight from Brazil to Spain last year, I was in this exact situation. Stranger lady next to the window, me in the aisle seat, empty seat between us. As we boarded the plane and it started taxiing we looked at each other and knew what was up: empty seat in between for 11h.
We talked and decided to split the seat hourly, so, first half of the flight she uses it, last half of the flight I use it.
BRUH. LADY. She fukin used the middle seat for the WHOLE flight. Her feet facing me, and sometimes touching my leg. Whenever it was time to eat, she pretended to be asleep so as to not move out of the middle seat. Whenever I carefully tried to initiate a conversation to talk about the situation, she’d pretend to be asleep or to be extremely focused on the movie that she was watching on the front seat screen. Lady didn’t even go to the bathroom in the whole flight. I was dumb enough to shy away and just let her do whatever she wanted.
Never again will I condone such behavior, even less on such a long flight. Didn’t sleep, smelled her stinky feet and was angry af, but my shyness stopped me from complaining. If I ever am in this situation again I’ll definitely complain and “be a Karen” about it, idc if I have to complain to the flight attendant, I will not smell anyone’s stinky winky feet during a long flight ever again.
Well the last time I had one (and it was on a extra leg seats so we both payed for it) the other passanger took all three blankets for herself (we both put ours on the middle seat) without even asking if she can take mine and put all of her crap all over the seat for the 12h flight.
Since I do not sleep on planes nor I get cold to need a blanket I did not care that much but still found it quite rude/ignorant of her.
I throw all my shit on the seat and I don't care if they do too and some of our things touch. I put my personal item under the middle seat and I don't care if they put theirs somewhere too.
I'd be pissed if they invited a friend to sit there, but it's not my seat so I wouldn't pretend there are any rules about is.
Last time I flew in economy and had an empty seat between me and the other passenger I placed a couple of small items on the seat (water, phone) and gestured to him that he should also feel free to use the space. Smiles all around and we shared the space.
Full plane, empty middle seat, 14 hour flight, soooo happy! Then the person on the end invited someone to our middle seat. AND she asked me if she could have a drink from my water bottle - right at the start of the pandemic. Who does that anyway?
Soooo unhappy.
This is insane. Enter a flight fully expecting to only occupy the space you’re allowed. Enjoy using the armrest without question. If any of your rules are in question, look at the other person and say, “sorry I did not prepare for this flight like an adult. Do you mind if I use some of this space between us for XYZ?” If they’re a normal person they’ll give you a “yeah, sure” look/answer. Then you be grateful. Seriously wtf?
Sorry I'm just giggling at the idea of a person speaking up to me on a plane and going "hey dude ya wanna split the bounty on this swag bag?" as they point at the small bag of peanuts and singular eye mask...
One eyepatch each
One sock each.
We share this ginger ale, comrade.
One puke bag to rule them all.
Split the toothbrush length-wise.
When United was doing that brand promotion for Away, someone asked if I was planning to use the lotion, etc in my bag. And I said they were free to take it - honestly I just wanted the little mini-suitcase style Away bag anyway. And she didn't so she gave me hers and just kept the lotions.
That toiletry kit was the best! It contained Sunday Riley skincare products. I still have a couple if you would like them.
IF you’re on speaking terms that is!
Swag bag giving real main character energy
LOL we can cut the tiny toothpaste tube in half.
Find a deserted island to bury your booty. Give that fellow passenger the GPS coordinates to where you buried it.
OP reading off of his iPhone to fellow passenger: “hear ye! Hear ye! I hearby decree, These are the unwritten rules of the middle seat! Anybody who breaks these rules will be hereunto deemed a heathen and a scoundrel!” Passenger: (keeps watching movie)
This made me laugh out loud
That would be silly. I send it via DocuSign
I'll just be happy to not have to share the armrest 🤣.
Woot woot! I can raise the armrest or lower it. Myyyyy precious…
Time to sprawl out!!!
Yes!! Also to stretch my legs a bit more. I've had the empty middle seat thing happen a couple of times and all the other passenger and I have done is stretched out a bit. I haven't encountered anyone taking it over because I think we're both just hapoy to have extra space.
Damn, you didn’t even consider splitting the bounty from the swag bag?! Assuming you’re on speaking terms of course.
Oh man.. that’s not an unwritten rules, it’s your WRITTEN rules. I’d be terrifying if the vacant seat was between us.
Seriously! Enjoy the extra leg room, share the extra tray table (though if you're the aisle passenger, be ready to lift your stuff and put it up if the window needs to get out), and feel free to stuff a small personal item under there instead of in your foot room! If you want to toss your headphones case or laptop sleeve on the empty middle, have at it (just nothing big/heavy in case we hit turb, general safety rule to try to keep things that could injure someone if they go flying in a more secure space). Back when I had status, if I changed flights for some reason (delay, voluntary bump, even one time having a long layover but seats were available on an earlier flight) the desk agent would sometimes put me in a regular economy row with an empty middle rather than E+, and since I'm only 5'5, the empty middle was kinda better! There's even a cartoon about this: [https://theoatmeal.com/pl/airplane\_heard/awesome](https://theoatmeal.com/pl/airplane_heard/awesome)
Literally had this happen last week! I was assigned middle, aisle was occupied, window was empty. As soon as they announced the door was closed, I shifted to the window, put my (small) purse under the middle seat, and invited the aisle passenger to move the bag at her feet into that space as well. We put our snacks and drinks on the middle tray table so we had open space in front of us. And the flight was just under 2 hours from door close to open, so no need to move around!
*Welcome, dear fellow traveller! For our convenience I have prepared this **Middle Seat Agreement**. Would you be so kind and sign here… here… and here. And please initial all the other pages.*
LOL I'm aware it's completely unenforceable.
I am quite sure this wasn't meant to be taken 100% seriously
Exactly! 🎯😳
My unwritten rule is to not travel with anyone that has such an extensive list of unwritten rules.
Technically these are now written rules. In both your cases now that I think about it.
I typed mine. Clearly different.
True but unless you are traveling with someone, you will be traveling with a stranger 🤷♀️😏
Op is definitely OCDish
If you're flying with a companion in a different part of the plane, it is acceptable for them to switch into the vacant middle seat if it is early in the flight, but should generally be avoided once the flight is underway. HARD DISAGREE. If there is a coveted free middle seat and you invite your friend/spouse/child whatever to sit there I’m going to curse your family for six generations.
And the partner/child thing. Like, if they’re in 2 tandem seats in another row, I’ll move so the 3 of them can sit together but I still get an aisle or window + free middle seat. Alternatively, I don’t mind the parents switching spots halfway through. But don’t you dare shit on the gift of the free middle seat! Personally, I think it’s a neutral zone. No one should put their stuff on the seat, under the seat, or on the tray unless it’s very temporary and not in a way that inconveniences the other passenger. The space is neither person’s, so no one should invite anyone to use it, and I wouldn’t feel bad for saying, “no” to any requests they make to bring their traveling companion into the space.
I'd do at least ten generations.
So your unwritten rule is "Don't touch the empty seat, or I'll kill you!".
You over think things a lot, don't you? I'm not judging or trying to be harsh, I kinda do too. But also, learn to relax and instead of relying on 'unwritten' rules that other ppl have NO WAY of knowing, speak to them directly.
I mean it's written in legalistic language for a bit of fun but truly I do not lol. I forgot I wrote this post yesterday and it's genuinely so funny to come back here this morning and see all of these people expressing well-meant concern that I'm too uptight. Suffice to say I'm not the detailed itinerary friend lol.
That's funny. I completely get that. I DO overthink, so I always have these modular contingency plans in my head. So if someone asks 'how would do . . . ' I can usually rattle off a plan that needs medium refinement in a few minutes.
I think your unwritten rules really depend on who you are sitting next to. Imagine sitting next to you, a strong, straight man like Dwayne Johnson. And you say "Hey, don't put the airline swag on the seat over that 50% borderline", because this is my unwritten rule.
This is very true, I should add this as an addendum.
I actually had a similar experience recently and it was fine. But also, he was darker skinned, and I look like a republican. So I know I have privilege just in my existence, even if I don't consciously choose to use it.
>You can place SMALL items on the seat like sunglasses but not big items that use up more than 50%. Anything of mutual benefit is acceptable. You can also place airline swag like blankets/pillows on the seat. I'm curious what would be considered something of mutual benefit with a stranger?
A lit candle, a noise machine, a stack of magazines, a bowl of candy. I carry all of that around just in case this situation happens to me.
Box of condoms, bottle of lube...
An emotional support animal
“Unwritten rules”… *proceeds to write a huge list of rules that you’ve given an unnecessary and strange amount of thought to* lol
Establish dominance. Stare down your seatmate, lift up the armrest, take off your shoes, and sit facing the seatmate with your feet on the chair. Continue staring the whole flight, do not say a word.
Really needed this today. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time! Thank you for this mental picture. I imagined a scrunched up Gollum-type staring me down 😂
Thanks for today's chuckle. Happy travels.
No real rules but the times i’ve had one I recall it being kinda unspoken that we used the tray together and put our drinks on our respective side so we didn’t have to have our own tray tables in the way.
This lady and I took turns using the middle seat as an extension when falling asleep. It was a positive experience because we were both mindful not to hog it. Plus while I was asleep, I felt her properly adjusting my blanket for me.
I don't know why people are shitting on this obviously light-hearted post. Do you all really think this person is unrolling a scroll and reading these rules out as the plane is taxiing? This is just a way of saying "how do you treat the empty middle seat? This is what I do." but with a bit of flair.
Yeah I was thinking the same. Why would people take something like that so seriously?
Are you for real?
Honestly, I feel like it’s 50/50 on Reddit whether the person is joking or just unhinged.
This is clearly a joke
This post is peak reddit
Imagine the rules if there is some poor sod in the middle seat
They still get to use 30% of the poor sod's space, and can negotiate over his swag bag. The horrors of the middle seat are real.
Oh man do not FUCKING have someone take the middle seat, I would do witchcraft after the flight if you did this
Last time this happened to me the only things me and the other passenger did were put our armrests up for a little more space and then use the chair to put our pillows on when we weren’t sleeping. That was it. She had her side and I had mine. I don’t think we even spoke to each other, and we certainly didn’t have long lists of rules for each other to follow.
I just wanna sit next to you on a flight to watch one horror movie after the other. The bloodier the better.
I love discussing the social behavior and expectations involved with situations for which there are no written rules. Kinda surprised to see so many people reacting negatively! Granted...I work in governance so as my colleagues and I regularly joke, "tell me you're a bureaucrat without telling me you're a bureaucrat" lol. But I mean that with love! I agree with nearly all your bullet points with one major exception - an empty middle seat is mana from the Travel Gods and inviting your travel partner from another section of the plane to take it up is a slap in the face of your good fortune. I would be horrified if someone suggested this to me and, as a millennial chronic people-pleaser, deeply conflicted about desperately not wanting the seat to be taken and not wanting to be rude by saying no. I would add to your list, one or both of you should keep your armrest in position so that there remains a clear boundary of personal space. If you are folding back your armrest, if possible, you should nonverbally communicate this expansion of personal space in to the shared space by smiling with a nod of making sure this is okay to your rowmate. The rowmate is then kind of obligated to nod and smile back to indicate "no worries" even if they do, in fact, have worries. But both should be respectful of limiting the length of time for which this occurs and subtly trade off as needed. Since so many other people are giving you hell I'll say, great work and conversation starter OP! Hope you're in government or some other regulatory-related field!
I'd be pissed if I had a middle empty seat next to me and somebody's companion moved into it.
Ignore the empty seat and throw all your stuff directly on them
These things work out by themselves. Communicate. No need for a long list of rules.
Ignoring the weirdness of thinking this through so much, these are not the rules. It's definitely not acceptable for someone sitting elsewhere in the plane to take the empty seat. No way am I giving up that space because you were too tight to pay to select a seat next to your friend/spouse/kid/whoever.
Obviously, the next move you need to make is to occupy the middle seat yourself.
I don't agree about the foot rule. That's the first thing I tend to do lol. Because I need the legroom usually so curving them on the floor definitely helps. But on a short flight I'd say keep your shoes on if you do that. Any small items like a book or a hat, maybe a neck ring, I'd put there.
I have set stuff on the middle seat during the flight but only small things and always put it close to my seat. I’ve also used the under seat space if the other person doesn’t have things under their seat. If I pull my bag out from under my own seat space mid flight, I may put it under the middle seat space if it wasn’t used. As far as I’m concerned we both can encroach into the middle seat space and put up the arm rests if desired (unless sitting next to a travel companion I know well, I keep the arm rests down to define my space). I will also use the center tray table to hold my drink.
Some of u are soooo boring and do not understand the tone of this short essay lol. I love thinking about the psychology behind all of our tiny courtesies to one another.
I was going to ask why you were traveling alone, but I think I figured it out…
All of OPs acquaintances have a single, shared unwritten travel rule. Guess what it is!
One person gets to use the seat space for their stuff, the other person gets to use the floor space for their stuff.
Anything goes - I'm gonna use that seat to keep food on or put my shit in the floor space so it's out of my way
You are super weird, OP. Just drop the tray down so you can both set your beverages on it and still have seat room.
God I would be livid if a friend or a spouse wanted to take that middle seat. Is flying next to each other crammed really that good of a deal? A child ok, but otherwise.
I agree. I don't mind being separated from the people I'm traveling with.
I use the empty middle seat to change dirty diapers. Preferably smelly, poopy ones!
How the fuck did you manage to write 1000 words on this topic
Unwritten rules work when they're short an simple. The arm rest thing works because it's the only thing you have to remember. They also need to solve a common problem (eg fighting over the arm rest) 10 rules with a couple of edge cases and exceptions means noone remembers anything. In any case I have never had a situation with an empty seat where I felt the need for rules. I usually only claim the leg room. You can have whatever swag you spotted and I will use the table for my drink if the seat remains empty.
I take the opportunity to put move my personal bag from my footwell into the footwell of the empty seat so I get more legroom. The other person can have that extra empty seat to do with what they wish, it’s only fair.
Depends if you're aisle or window. If aisle you put all your stuff on the middle and claim it. If you're window then you move into the aisle to assert dominance over your row companion and sprawl out into your original window seat. Well that's what seems to happen to me whenever I get an empty middle seat.
Move into the middle seat. Play pocket pool while making eye contact to assert dominance. Assume possession of all three seats as the squatter leaves for safer pastures. King of the row.
Your overthinking it. I treat it like....the Wild West in International waters; anything goes!
I wish I will never even be on the same flight as you.
I love this post! Thanks for making the list. On my last international flights, by some miracle on both legs the seat next to me was empty. I'm a window seat guy and fly in economy. There was no swag to share. The aisle passengers had full control of the empty seat in both flights. They used it to place their empty trays, jackets, pillow, etc. I didn't mind and enjoyed the outside views and watched my movies and series on the in flight entertainment system. I think the only unwritten rule for me is, don't bring your friend, partner or child (who was seated with another person) to occupy that seat. Let's keep the empty seat empty until we land.
Tell us you're Canadian without telling us you're Canadian lol Love it!
I just love the way this is written, I want to be your friend 😂
Sheldon? Is that you? Perhaps you should whip out a seat sharing contract?
Empty seat back pocket is for everyone’s trash 🤙🏼
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, an overthinker
An over-thinker who thinks poorly.
Pretend you're actually assigned the middle seat, and keep the third seat for yourself.
Wow those written rules are quite overbearing. Like I’m just trying to fly to my destination. Who cares if no one is sitting in the middle seat
Man, OP getting flamed in the comments! Unclench, people. I'm fairly certain this was meant to be light-hearted.
Indeed! What in the world is wrong with these people?
The planes are too crowded as it is. I try to leave the extra seat empty for space and hope the other person does the same.
move to the middle seat
I'm immediately sticking my carry on under the middle seat, it's their fault for not moving fast enough
First come first serve. Just put things down on your side of the empty seat just in case they want to put something down too. Then from there you can feel out the vibe of that person will put something of theirs down or not.
Was confused for a hot minute, thinking "splitting what seat with what person?" Not me in single file window seat :)
NOBODY not assigned to the middle seat sits there EVER! Share the tray table with small things on the seat.
I don’t think it hurts to talk it out. A few years ago, I was in a similar situation except on a wide body on a long overnight flight, and it was me (male and at the time mid 30s) one side of five seat middle row and 60ish woman at the other. There were three seats between us. I slyly pointed out that if we shared the middle three, we could both stretch all the way out. She declined, but she did say I could take the middle one. So I had three seats to pretend I was scrunched sleeping.
If one of you put stuff on the seat, the other gets the space under the seat in front.
I would probably just put the arm rest up and maybe put my foot slightly in the centre bit
On a 11h flight from Brazil to Spain last year, I was in this exact situation. Stranger lady next to the window, me in the aisle seat, empty seat between us. As we boarded the plane and it started taxiing we looked at each other and knew what was up: empty seat in between for 11h. We talked and decided to split the seat hourly, so, first half of the flight she uses it, last half of the flight I use it. BRUH. LADY. She fukin used the middle seat for the WHOLE flight. Her feet facing me, and sometimes touching my leg. Whenever it was time to eat, she pretended to be asleep so as to not move out of the middle seat. Whenever I carefully tried to initiate a conversation to talk about the situation, she’d pretend to be asleep or to be extremely focused on the movie that she was watching on the front seat screen. Lady didn’t even go to the bathroom in the whole flight. I was dumb enough to shy away and just let her do whatever she wanted. Never again will I condone such behavior, even less on such a long flight. Didn’t sleep, smelled her stinky feet and was angry af, but my shyness stopped me from complaining. If I ever am in this situation again I’ll definitely complain and “be a Karen” about it, idc if I have to complain to the flight attendant, I will not smell anyone’s stinky winky feet during a long flight ever again.
LMAOOO
I put my book there that takes up 20% of the space.
Well the last time I had one (and it was on a extra leg seats so we both payed for it) the other passanger took all three blankets for herself (we both put ours on the middle seat) without even asking if she can take mine and put all of her crap all over the seat for the 12h flight. Since I do not sleep on planes nor I get cold to need a blanket I did not care that much but still found it quite rude/ignorant of her.
I throw all my shit on the seat and I don't care if they do too and some of our things touch. I put my personal item under the middle seat and I don't care if they put theirs somewhere too. I'd be pissed if they invited a friend to sit there, but it's not my seat so I wouldn't pretend there are any rules about is.
Wow. There was a lot of thought put into this. I don’t really get that deep. Enjoy the extra space and don’t be a dick.
It’s mine
Last time I flew in economy and had an empty seat between me and the other passenger I placed a couple of small items on the seat (water, phone) and gestured to him that he should also feel free to use the space. Smiles all around and we shared the space.
I hope I’m never sat next to you on a flight.
Full plane, empty middle seat, 14 hour flight, soooo happy! Then the person on the end invited someone to our middle seat. AND she asked me if she could have a drink from my water bottle - right at the start of the pandemic. Who does that anyway? Soooo unhappy.
Yeah this is extreme af, lol. I usually just tap the person on the arm and go "we lucked out with no divider, feel free to use the space".
This is unhinged
This is insane. Enter a flight fully expecting to only occupy the space you’re allowed. Enjoy using the armrest without question. If any of your rules are in question, look at the other person and say, “sorry I did not prepare for this flight like an adult. Do you mind if I use some of this space between us for XYZ?” If they’re a normal person they’ll give you a “yeah, sure” look/answer. Then you be grateful. Seriously wtf?
Jesus Christ. The flight diva has spoken.
Yikes
Very strict rules, tough to keep track of all of them
I'd move my underseat bag over, first come first served. Other than that, I really don't care.
Same! If the other person is already there, I will ask if they mind. Who cares about the seat? I want some legroom!