I had the opportunity to fly on American Airlines this week. Well...not so much an opportunity as it was the flight that had been booked for me by a well-meaning travel agent who not only didn't bother to not discover my preferences, but booked the flight too late to get me anything but dreaded MIDDLE seats. Middle seats! Does anyone like middle seats? Other than people who enjoy awkwardly invading strangers' personal space, probably not.
But middle seats wasn't the worst of the experience. And the worst of it wasn't the travel agent's fault.
People than fly with any frequency at all must realize that modern plane seats are bolted to a track on the floor. And that those seats can be moved farther apart and closer together. I have yet to experience the former and the latter keeps on happening. Which is the point of this particular micro-rant.
On American Airlines — at least the four planes I was just on — they've now moved the seats so close together than the overhead vents and reading lights no long line up properly with the seats below. So the light that should have helped me to read was blocked by my own shoulder. And I suffered a continual jet of freezing cold air in my ear. Refreshing!
And then there's the collateral damage.
With the seating so oppressively close, the guy in front of me slams into my knees when he reclines his seat. I can no longer sufficient clearance to openmy laptop on the tray table. And I can't recline MY seat properly because of the knees of the guy behind me jabbing into my back.
Adding a frosting of overall annoyance to this cake of discomfort is the fact that every flight is now stuffed to the gills. Every seat filled. With the faltering economy, the number of flights has been cut down so that choices are limited. So limited that you' invariably end up in a middle seat.
I guess the travel agent is not to blame after all.
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