Seat Hogs
Whether it’s on a bus, in the movies or on a plane, why do some people just think it’s okay to spread their legs, their arms and whatever they’re reading in front of me? Did they pay extra for the privilege or do they simply consider it a birthright?
I am sick and tired of seat hogs. You know the type; they spread themselves out, planting their feet wide apart so their knees force you to swing your legs over, just to fit in your own seat. Then they either position their elbows so you have to scrunch over or they hog the armrests. And in the summer it’s even worse, because you have to deal with skin on skin. Sound familiar? I’m not talking about overweight people; they tend to be considerate because they know their size is a target. And, besides, they can’t help it. I’m talking about those dolts who think their entitled to more, merely because. . . well, I won’t go there.
Commuting to NYC by bus, I usually got stuck in the very back, with all the smokers (Ugh. Remember those days? All you women over 40 sure should). The smoke and the rising heat of the engine meant I’d be nauseous the entire trip. But, sometimes I’d be “lucky” enough to sit in a regular seat. Of course, I’d then get stuck next to someone who thought they were entitled to half of my seat as well. It became a battle of the elbows, to see who could hold out the longest. And you know I spent the entire ride holding out.
While I’m not going to pick on a particular demographic (since I’ve been accused of this before), I’ll bet you’ve had to deal with a seat hog once or twice as well. Just picture the person who you can usually count on to do this. Got that picture in your head? Now read what some others say about this:
Now, this isn’t me saying this, it’s Nancy E. Lorenzen Galvin who commented that:
“In my experience, it has always been males, and they have all been the typical middle-aged mid-management type.”
Then, my friend D.j. TonyVito wrote:
“These type of guys do it to EVERYONE regardless of gender I notice! They’re usually BIG and it is obvious that they need the room, but who’s fault is that?”
Tony’s sister, Angie Paccione commented:
“Lucille, yes 99% of the time it’s men… and not always BIG guys… the guy yesterday was smaller than me… it’s some sort of “entitlement thinking”… without a courtesy filter…. ugh!”
Now, it’s not me blaming men. . . it’s my Facebook friends. I simply will not blame an entire group for the selfishness and discourtesy of others.
But I am thinking of carrying of bottle of “Evening in Paris” to spray on the next offender.
Tags: bus riding, commuting, inconsiderate people, men over 40, people who take up too much room, seat hogs, women over 40
I was on a plane going back east two months ago and I was lucky enough to get an aisle seat, BUT I still had to deal with the person to my right. This individual was a rather small person, but rested his (oops..just gave away his gender) left arm on the armrest as if it were attached by glue! After one hour of trying to figure out what to do with my right arm..resting on my chest, lifting it over my head..I decided to go to war.I put my right arm against his on the armrest, noticed my arm was longer than his and waited. We stayed like that for about ten minutes when he moved his arm and I moved in like lighting!! Of course once I conquered my prey I knew I had to stay like that for a while – forget going to the bathroom and I had to use my left arm to sip my juice. I did give in and apparently so did he and went to sleep with his arms crossed in front of him! Happy Holidays all you seat/armrest hogs!!!