The seatmate relationship is an interesting one. There are times you know your seatmate. They are either a family member you live with, a family member you don’t live with, a travel companion, or a complete stranger.
Even for a family member you live with, the dynamic can change because; there’s something about sitting in that mere 18-inch space on an aircraft for an extended period of time. Let’s face it, we all have our own airline seat personality.
But, certainly, it’s the stranger seatmate that’s the most interesting. An unspoken bond is created that each person respects, most of the time. All those in the same row become a community.
It’s akin to the Thanksgiving table. Some people you know, some you don’t know and so everyone tries to be on their best behavior.
We implore common courtesies like saying excuse me, please and thank you, passing drinks or snacks, sometimes a pleasant conversation, going to the bathroom at the same time so as not to disturb, possibly sharing items like electronics or a pen and, when we disembark, we may even help each other with our bags. Most importantly, we recognize when the other person wants to be left alone to sleep, watch a movie, or read. Let’s not forget about the armrest etiquette for the middle seat person.
If your seatmate is really nice, they’ll nudge you when the food and beverage service comes so you won’t miss out or get an extra snack for you and let you sleep. Don’t you just hate it when you doze off and when you awake, everyone’s snacking and drinking? That’s when you give everyone that look that says, hey, why didn’t someone wake me?
The latter is tricky and depends on the bond you formed with your seatmate.
Unfortunately, there are times when we are unlucky with our random seatmate. Maybe they’ve had too much to drink, they could be inappropriate, they don’t pick up the cues and keep talking to you even when you have headphones on or are reading a book and they have to go to the bathroom right after you’ve got your drink, snacks or meal or they take up too much space.
What I find especially interesting is how the community comes together when other communities are not getting along. By this I mean other rows. When this happens, we utter, “we’re lucky not to be sitting next to him or her” or “I feel sorry for his or her seatmate”.
I wonder, how this dynamic will change with the mandate of facemasks and how it will be post-pandemic travel?
Just something to think about the next time you board a plane.
Yours truly,
