Fun Fact #17: I can sometimes be a sensitive individual

Yesterday I was traveling back from San Diego to Pittsburgh via Southwest. They allow you to choose your own seats, which works out fine if you board early but basically regulates you to a middle seat if you don't.

I'm paranoid about printing out my boarding pass and stuff, so I was able to board early and secure a window seat. Aisle seats may allow for more legroom, but they also provide ample opportunity for people to accidentally brush up against you and for the flight attendant to run over your leg with her cart. So basically, I'm a fan of the window seat. Plus, if worse comes to worst, you can basically smash yourself against the wall for the duration of the flight.

Anyways, I was seated in my seat near the front of the plane and the aisle seat in my row was almost immediately taken by a morbidly obese woman. This woman needed to ask the flight attendant for a seatbelt extender (which I didn't even really know existed), and I began to think about what a humiliating ordeal flying must be for her. As this was happening more and more people were boarding the plane, and the flight attendants announced numerous times that it was a full flight and that any open seat should be taken. Yet the middle seat between me and the lady remained empty. At least 50 people walked by and a flight attendant basically had to drag some guy to the our row and force him to sit there. It was apparent why no one wanted the seat (because the lady took up about one and a half seats), but someone had to take it. And, as he sat down, the heavyset lady apologized profusely that he had to sit there. She seemed totally aware of the disgust the guy felt having to sit there. I cannot imagine being that lady and knowing that countless people are walking past the open seat because of you. I just felt bad for her. I think I'm almost hyper aware of what people are doing around me and I always wonder what they're thinking. And it seemed like that lady was the same way, except she sadly seemed to know what everyone was thinking.

But now back to my usual non-sensitive self, the guy in the middle seat was forced to take up part of my seat for the entire flight. Oh, and he reeked of cologne, spoke Italian, and didn't pick up on the fact that someone wearing headphones probably doesn't want to chat. I basically ended up hugging the wall of the plane for the entire flight. It was a blast.