How To Be A Good Seat Buddy
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 11:31PM You're one of the first on the plane. You get your bags stowed neatly away, in the over head compartment or under the seat- as instructed- and you settle down into your seat, buckling your seatbelt, ready to be an exemplary passenger.
And then you play the waiting game. And the guessing game.
Each person that walks through that door on the left could be sat next to you. It's a lucky dip, and you never know who it's going to be. There are so many different types of characters and personalities, you're almost silently praying to yourself that you don't have to sit next to some strange person for hours and hours.
Every plane I get on, I like to hope I'll be sat next to someone who's really cool and interesting; someone who offers me an awesome job right there on the plane after chatting with me and learning about my acting and copywriting ability; or perhaps even some incredible looking girl who I can attempt to chat up during the journey, or perhaps even start some inflight romance with!
The only thing is, real life never mirrors fantasy.
The best I hope for on a plane is someone that is pleasant, shares a few words about the weather, a problem with the flight, or some other mundane form of chit chat, and then keeps to themselves, reading, watching something, or sleeping.
Only, they have to make sure they sleep away from me. I really don't want a stranger drueling on my shoulder, thank you very much. I once had a 13 year old girl sat next to me on an eight hour flight, who turned around and said "you don't mind if i fall asleep on your shoulder do you?" then without waiting for an answer, plopped her head down onto my arm. Yes I bloody do mind, but I'm British so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and not tell you what I think. She then had the cheek to ask me to make sure she was awake when the food came around.
No, ideally, your "seat buddy" will never be a buddy unless they are exceptional. They won't encroach upon your foot space with their bags or knees, and they won't be fighting with your elbows for the arm rests. They won't spill coffee or juice all over you (I've had tendancy to do this myself lately, usually I just throw said liquid over myself though), they won't be too large for the seat, and they won't need to go to the bathroom every five minutes. They won't constantly argue with the air hostess (or flirt), and god forbid, they won't want to play with your iPad!
If you're lucky, you might get someone who has something midly interesting to tell you, and you might learn something or make a reasonable business connection. If you're luckier still, you might get someone who knows how to get free stuff from the stewards, or you might even be sat in the company of a little old lady who'll give you free stuff herself!
What you really don't want, is someone who smells bad. BO is just unacceptable these days. You don't really want a "sweater" either. That's just a little disturbing. Perhaps even worse are those over-friendly people, that just refuse to shut up, and just go on and on and on and on with themselves, despite your obvious attempts at opening your book and putting in your headphones to show that you don't intend to listen.
But just once, just once, if you're extremely lucky, you'll get a pretty awesome seat mate. Someone who you're actually interested to talk to, and has entertaining and interesting things to say. And they recpirocate with you too. You don't mind sharing your craisins with them, and you actually kind of don't want the flight to end. You wonder where those hours in the air seemed to go. It's pretty rare I think....but it does happen!
If you're getting on a plane without friends/relatives, all you can do is pray when the moment comes! Or bribe the check-in staff.
Reader Comments (2)
This is so true! I think to have a good seat mate, you should be a good seat mate :)
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