Thanks for all of the advice. I took the aisle 1D since I tend to walk around frequently on flights. It would have been hard to get by the aisle passenger from 1F with the seat even slightly reclined. That said, the downside, as noted above, was staring at the toilet and into the galley the entire flight. There was a deadheading FA in the jump seat, so there was probably more chatter than usual, so sleeping in the aisle seat was a challenge. I think people probably know whether they value privacy or access, and the
decision here should be based on that as the difference is pretty clear. That said, it was my first time on Mint (AA canceled my flight) and I was very pleasantly surprised.