I'm an aisle seat guy, frequently in Y and like MCE so I'll have room to use my laptop. Often, that means I'm in the bulkhead aisle seat.

That means I try to board early, to make sure to get my carry-on and personal item into overhead space near me before it all fills up. The problem then is that 100+ coach passengers board and pass by me once I'm in my seat. And a significant number of those hit my shoulder as they pass by, with their backpacks, handbags, duffles, and buttocks. I figured this was just the price I had to pay for my preferred seat.

Recently I had a brainstorm.

Once I got seated, I opened up the armrest tray table, and pulled it out of the aisle armrest and forward - then left it there in the vertical position, instead of lowering it over my lap. That gave me a hard barrier at the edge of my seat, well in front of my shoulder. I sat there while it got bumped a couple of dozen times. It was jarring enough that I even got several apologies, as opposed to the usual bumps against my shoulder, where the gentler impact against soft tissue is less noticeable to the offender.

It's not a perfect system, some purses are worn high enough to clear the tray barrier and still hit me, but over the course of two flights, it probably reduced the impact count by 75%.

Anyone else ever try this?