Last month, LAX-MIA on AA's B773 service. I pre-selected 16D, (aisle seat, middle block, front row of Main Cabin Extra). 16E was occupied by an extremely large woman, leaving me with about 75% of my available seat width. At that point 16L was unoccupied, and the FA said I was welcome to take it if it remained unoccupied. In fact I sat in 16L for no more than about 5 minutes before its rightful occupant arrived, so back I went to 16D. Fair enough, but not happy to spend the next 4 hours next to the fat woman.

This where the story gets more interesting. A gentleman on crutches now approaches with another FA from somewhere further back in coach and sits in 16A - right by the emergency exit. I take my safety seriously (a friend was on the BA 777 that ran out of fuel on final approach to LHR), and I quietly told "my" FA that I was not at all happy about a guy on crutches sitting by the exit door, between me and my safety. I don't know what the FAA mandated egress time for a fully loaded 773 is, but if it's 90 seconds I think every single second counts. The FA, correctly sensing I might be about to off-load myself, asked the guy in 16A to swap with me - so somewhat accidentally I ended up in the exit window while he sat next to the fat woman in 16D. It was only when the guy on crutches moved over to 16D that I saw he had a prosthetic leg - which made me doubly glad he wasn't in 16A.

It may have come across as a bit heartless, but I want to be responsible for my own safety - or at least be 100% certain of my safety if I'm in someone else's hands. What would you have done?