I’m engaged in working on those small regional planes that not many people truly fancy being on. They’re diminutive, we all know that, but the seats aren’t actually that much smaller than those on the mainline, if at all. Plus, we don’t have middle seats, just window and aisle ones.
I’m handling a fully booked flight from Houston to a place somewhere in the Midwest, both regions where it’s quite common to encounter large-sized people (not just broad, but also tall). This rather hefty guy boards when we’re approximately halfway through the boarding process and realizes that the guy he has to sit next to is also fairly large. To be honest, they’re about the same size.
Before he takes his seat, he storms back up to me.
Passenger: “Give me one of the empty seats in the back!”
Me: “Sir, it’s going to be a full flight, but if there are any empty rows, I’ll come and get you.”
Passenger: *Loudly, trying to make a scene* “But the guy next to me is too big! He’s spilling into my seat!”
I checked it out, and it really wasn’t that bad; the guy fit just fine. Boarding started to slow down, and with each passenger trickling in, he kept looking back to see if he could go. I had to tell this guy at least five times to wait.
Sure enough, we were full. I did my count and informed the guy that he had to remain in his original seat. He heaved a big sigh and started grumbling about how ridiculous it was. He then proceeded to cross his legs and lean as far into the aisle as possible, literally an inch from the seat across from him. So whenever anyone had to pass him, they had to say, “Excuse me,” and he’d make a big huff about leaving just a couple of inches so they still had to squeeze by.
My job demands that I make that walk numerous times during a flight, including a couple of times with a large and heavy cart. I was aware of what he was doing, so I made sure I pushed my side of the cart as close to him as I could.
After having to say, “ Excuse me,” five times and him creating a scene, embarrassing the guy next to him, I stopped saying it and just walked into him every time.
Things settled down a bit, but he still wouldn’t sit properly in his seat; he wanted to make a point.
So, I only did the trash runs when it seemed like he was about to doze off.
I can be a jerk, too.
