Recently, I boarded an all-coach Embraer plane for an AA flight. I was in Main Cabin Extra and the flight was maybe 1/4 full. The back had more people in it than the front.

A lady in a row right behind me began coughing. The first seven rows on the left were completely empty, so I moved to a seat there (regular coach).

The flight attendant immediately came over, said that I had to go back to my original seat, and so I moved. She said, “You can’t be around here!”

What gives? In a plane with lots of empty seats, I have to sit next to a sick passenger, these days?