I'm not a quick thinker, but thinking back now with a cooler head, there were several things I could have done. I could have moved to the middle seat and allow my wife to enjoy more comfort. That would not have helped the lady because she would still sit on armrests. My wife could have taken the middle, and the woman then would still sit on 2 armrests but now be in the way of the carts and FA's. I could have switched seats with her daughter in 1E middle, but the woman would still be on armrests. My wife could have switched seats with her husband in a middle seat at the back of the plane, and all 3 of them could have sat together in Row 1, with us now in middle seats. But the woman would still be sitting on the 2 fixed armrests. You know, a cynical person that saw some older Southwest emblems on their luggage at ORD might have other thoughts. It's not possible that they have learned how to manipulate and exploit a UA no-overweight-policy rather than pay for 2 seats at Southwest? Get seats at the last minute which are then likely to be E+ middle seats? @:-) If so, it wasn't worth it for bulkhead. That had to be sheer misery for 4 hours sitting on the armrests.

How about you? Would you find the energy to buzz the FA the next time you got wedged in? After I get my response from United Customer Relations on exactly what their policy is in this situation, I will try to formulate a plan according to their guidelines for the next time (hopefully never) that this may occur.