Item #1: I am the guy standing at the pole. I can not hear well and then line is close to where the GA is (Duh!). I can hear and understand as I am close enough to read lips. My knees hurt when I sit and standing is more comfortable. So, I stand in line rather than somewhere else.

Item #2: I try to find a window in which I can snuggle my left shoulder into the recess and pick of about 2" more shoulder room. As I am deaf in my left ear, I also like the A seat and not the F. I also do not like row 1-4 because the window seats are a bit narrower. That means there are just a few seats to my perfect liking on the whole plane. But, sit in a row with with the middle already taken when there are open middles with a window? Never.