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One approach would have been to ask where his seat was and if it was one you wouldn't have minded moving to, suggest that you exchange seats so he could be near his friend.
I would have taken that approach 1st also. No need to get hostile or upset unless all civilized attempt fail.
I asked the man who was sitting next to me to exchange seats and he refused. He later said after the friend finally left that I had no right to complain and there is no right to personal space on an airplane as long as the person is not physically touching you.
I would have asked to switch seats, either with the window guy or the friend. Since the window guy was hostile, I would have called the flight attendant over and in front of him/her asked something to the effect of: would it be ok to switch seats with the standing guy, as you are extremely uncomfortable, and it's a safety hazard for him to be standing in the aisle for an extended period of time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stranded and Lonely
I asked the man who was sitting next to me to exchange seats and he refused. He later said after the friend finally left that I had no right to complain and there is no right to personal space on an airplane as long as the person is not physically touching you.
Well, that's just rude. I probably would have been a child about it and encroached on him as much as possible (and sure hope he doesn't have to go to the bathroom, as I wouldn't move).
The guy was rude. You should have done more than politely ask him to move out. I would have moved him on. Im suprised the flight attendants didnt come move him because you arent supposed to be blocking the aisles as far as i know.
Location: The Raider Nation._ Our band kicks brass
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I'm willing to bet that this was an International flight, it wasn't an American based airline, and the gentlemen were from a country that treats women as second class citizens.
Of course you should have said something and can probably think of hundreds of things that you could have done (hindsight is always 20/20 and I always come up with great responses to rude people AFTER they've left ).
First, I would say to you as a former flight attendant that you should have contacted one of the attendants as soon as he responded that you should just "get over it." Someone else posted correctly that no one is supposed to just be standing in an aisle anyway.
Second, I could tell you some horror stories to make you happy that you only had to deal with the guy's crotch. I was called by a passenger whose seatmate was sitting reading Playboy magazine on a night flight from Las Vegas to Newark and decided to not only read the magazine, but to unzip his pants...and well...you know. Ugh. I've had people who were sitting next to the lavatory on flights from Mexico where someone with Montezuma's revenge made a run for the bathroom but was too late. Same for someone who was sitting in a window seat, felt nauseous and finally got up only in time to barf on the person sitting in the aisle seat. Plane travel is not pretty.
Finally, I would tell you that sometimes you just have to let stuff go. Yes, you have a right to be irritated but this "gentleman" clearly had no concern for anyone but himself. There are people like that all over the world. You find them when you try and be polite and then realize that in their world, life revolves around them and they don't care for anyone's discomfort, inconvenience, or time. Wasting more than a few minutes being irritated gives him more time than he deserves.
Just keep reminding yourself that if he treats a total stranger that way, he is likely one of those losers on his 4th or 5th wife, spends most of his income on court-ordered child support payments (since he probably couldn't be counted on to make them voluntarily) and has eaten his fair share of booger and loogy-filled food at various restaurants when he was no doubt rude to his server. I'm not a person who wears rose-colored glasses, but I'll be willing to bet that you now have a great line or idea of what to do if that ever happens again. Consider it your "learning curve" and prepare for the next idiot to come your way.
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