Letting others have for free what you have already paid for is what I would expect a saint to do, not a regular person.

The fault here lies squarely with the staff member who asked the OP's opinion. If Emirates chose to upgrade anyone for legitimate business reasons, that is their choice and their business. The negative impact upon the OP should be one variable that is considered when making that choice. However, the OP is a customer who paid for a certain product. As long as he receives that product (which he was going to anyway), there should have been no need to ask his permission in the first place.

What a passenger doesn't know has never hurt them. That's my philosophy!