Proper protocol for asking to switch seats?
I ask because 3 times in a row in the past two weeks, I had an aisle FC seat, and when I got on the plane there was someone already sitting in my seat who then asked me if I would mind switching with their spouse or teen, from whom they were separated.
I don't mind and will always switch. However, it does sort of annoy me when someone is already sitting in my seat and looks surprised when I tell them: Hi, I think this is my seat. Of course, I guess it would be worse if I was seated with my things in the overhead and under the seat in front of me and items spread around (if that was the case).
Yes, FC - so nobody is asking me to take a middle seat, but still - if I get to choose my seat in advance, maybe I still wanted the seat I chose for a reason?
Maybe I'm just because in the last instance, I ended up having to sit in my least favorite FC seat next to a very obese, talkative, first-time-flying-in-first woman who was clueless about everything and drove me nuts and almost spilled her drinks on me throughout the flight (requiring me to guard the glass on the console continuously from her flailing limbs - she was also turning her very large body in the seat from side to side to figure out the headset for hours, thereby knocking her glass).
Or maybe I'm just sick of being nice and need to vent...
Is it more polite to move first, ask later, stand and hover without blocking the aisle?
(Apologizing in advance if this Q was specifically answered. I did a search and could not find it.)