Recently I was; it was during my flight home (SLC to Orange County); and I found it's a scary feeling -- one that is challenging to control. What happened?

Recently, I purchased a small guitar (traveling size). Since I am just learning to play, I decided to take it with me and try to get in some practice time. On the flight out of Orange County, I asked if it could rest in the closet at the front of the plane -- no problem, flight attendants were more than happy to accommodate. On the flight home, I was told the closet was 'too small' and I should place it above my seat. I would normally not blink an eye at this, except the tone and mannerisms of the attendants were terse and less-than-helpful.

I found a spot for the guitar, said a small prayer that someone with a big roller bag wouldn't smash it, and settled into my window seat.

Along comes a gentleman (?) to take the middle seat. He sits and proceeds to take possession of the two middle armrests. Worse, he sat slouched in the seat, knees spread wide and into my 'space'. Now, I know that it's no fun to sit in the middle; so, I am more than happy to give that person two armrests -- they deserve it. However, draw a line from headrest to seat, along the space between the seats, and I consider the space on my side to be 'my space'. I do not want to rub shoulders or elbows with anyone (except my husband).

I sat and simmered, as his knee came into contact with mine, and his shoulder expanded beyond the boundaries of 'his space'. (What if this had been a large person, you ask? Well, he wasn't; he just didn't know how to 'hug the midline' -- he just sat and spread out, like jelly.)

In these situations, breathing helps. I felt, however, that it took a LOT of breathing to bring this under control and to relax. On a couple occasions, I deliberately bumped his knee, trying to get him to move it back to midline (didn't work). Finally, I moved closer to the window, breathed deeply, and decided to sleep my way to Orange County -- to try to ignore it.

I did, briefly, entertain the thought of asking him to hug the midline - to tell him that I was too old to rub shoulders or knees with him. As I remembered the recent incident on a plane where this same situation led to threats and someone being arrested, I decided to remain silent.

But, I will ask that question of the airline. First, tho, I sent them a nice 'complaint', asking why I am sent surveys to evaluate the performance of ground crews, but never in-flight crews. That, I fear to say something to these employees about their 'less-than' attitude is asking to be removed from the plane. Response from airline? An apology, a commitment to bring up the survey issue at their next meeting, and a $50 travel voucher -- all within 6 hours.

So, part of my steam has been let off; now, any thoughts on handling the space 'hoggers' on a plane?

I re-read this post and notice a pattern here -- one of being held 'hostage' by perceived threats. First threat, being booted off the plane if you say anything they don't like; the other coming from fellow passengers - which may be a result of the stress we all feel when flying these days. Interesting, isn't it?

Have a good Wednesday!