I have had some pretty interesting seatmates over the years and some not so interesting. It depends on what they're talking about if I want to listen. Some people are, let's face it, boring and you just don't want to listen anymore.

My most memorable seatmate was a nun going to do volunteer work in Belize and had done a lot of work all over the world. I could have listened to her for hours longer.

Another seatmate turned out to be the wife of an old boyfriend of mine. Small world.

Bobette

I always say g'day. Domestic that'll normally do. Depending on the reply if its an international flight I usually ask some courtesy question about their travel. Any conversation past g'day is always dependent on the vibe of the person.

Sat next to a girl (about my age, rather attractive) about 9 months ago, had the quick words. My seat IFE wouldn't work, I had a mag and a book but I noticed out the corner of my eye she was reading somethign which suggested she had the same work role as me. Asked her, she said yes, and we talked for the next 7 hours. Part of the story was she was moving to my hometown a couple of months after that flight, and we're great friends now...... all because my IFE wouldn't work.

^^

I usually avoid chatting with seat-mates...I hate the small talk, the sudden recruitment (to jesus, amway, mary kay, jehova's witnesses), and the dull stories (my son has an alarm company in witchita and). But sometimes it has been interesting.

Years ago a woman began chatting with me on a shuttle bus from Santa Fe to ABQ, this turned into a long friendship. Another time I chatted with both my seatmates on a 14hr transpac, kept me amused for a few hours during a stupidly long flight. But it's the exception, not the rule.

Never made and long term friends, BUT on one flight five years ago I was dreading my 4 hour ordeal when I heard the woman in the seat next to my assignment asking for a belt extender. HOWEVER, she did not spill over into my seat, had no bad odor, and approx. 10 minutes into the flight we both reached into our purses to grab out cross stitching which just happened to be pieces from the same designer! We wound up doing more talking than stitching and it gave me a reprieve from the worry in my mind about going to see my son, who was in intensive care from an accident just 5 weeks after my daughter, his younger sister, died. BTW, my son did recover from most of his injuries.

Recently (this past Saturday) met a great guy on DL101 from Atlanta to Buenos Aires. He had some very interesting Army stories. We had agreed to exchange business cards when we landed so we could meet up for dinner while we were both in Argentina, but after I woke up 15 minutes before the flight landed I completely forgot!

Im not the one to stike up the convo or say hi...but if the person next to me wants to say hi i will back...usually people lifes are pretty boring and whatever there traveling for probably isnt as cool as what im traveling for hahah so i try not to mention my Occupation because that usually leads to them asking me a million questions!

I don't have anything against talking to seatmates, but I'm not good at small talk. I also usually put on my headphones as soon as I sit down, so generally, people don't even bother trying.

I always say hi, genuine smile... from there, it depends on the day. If I've been talking in client meetings all day, I'm not really up for being 'on' again. An Ipod does work wonders to send a subtle clue - with that said, I also tend to try and be aware of their reason for conversation - maybe they are a really nervous flyer, and talking a bit helps them to relax - maybe its been a bad day for them and they just need to get something off their chest - I really don't mind being a sounding board then as its most likely only a couple of hours of my time, and I do get plenty of alone time in hotel rooms, rental cars, etc to more than make up for the 'lost' time on a plane. I think we've all been in a position where its nice to just have someone to listen to us.

I say hi always to be polite. I talk if I want.. and if I don't feel like talking, then I don't. But, I do find alot of people interesting.. and you get some interesting information out of people.

I don't usually initiate the conversation, but if people want to chat for the first little while, I don't mind. But once we hit 10,000 feet and the electronic devices can come back out, you're on your own.

Yeah, once the electronics are on.. I'm on ignore mode too!

So I just gotta ask. What do you do for a living?

Im always relieved when the seat next to me is vacant. Love the extra personal space.

If however someone else sits next to me I will always say hi and try to 'feel them out'. Have had a couple of polite small talk conversations on board, once helped an older couple work their IFE is the most sociable Ive ever gotten. Asking someones reason for travel would be the extent of it. Never sat next to someone who offered me a great job with a 7 figure salary, or wanted a totally hot make out session, or tried to steal one of my kidneys. Nothing so exciting.

A few years ago while waiting to board an OS flight SYD-KUL-VIE I spied an unpleasant boorish guy who made a racist comment at the gate. I think there was a debate as to whether he was going to be allowed to board. Wouldnt you know it my seat was 32A, he got 32C with (thankfully??) a spare seat inbetween. He introduced himself and made a remark about how hot the crew were and what a big ****** flight we had ahead of us. Without thinking I said with a terrible Europeanish accent, "Im sorry, my English she is bad. I no understand so good". He back off immediately and left me alone the entire flight.

To keep up the pretense I felt I had to stay in character for the duration of the flight with the crew. I do have a German surname and yes I can speak it a LITTLE as growing up it was used in the family home on (drunken) occasion. I was hoping all interaction with the crew would remain at the "Mochten Sie Schinken oder Fisch?" level which was all I felt comfortable with, so as to not blow my cover.

Oh yeah, he disembarked in Malaysia and his seat remained vacant for the onward leg. New crew too so I went back to the English.

No Planes, Trains, and Automobiles travel stories?


Do classes make a difference?

[QUOTE=milan luka;14006430] So I just gotta ask. What do you do for a living?

well im a professional athlete to be specific "skateboarder"
i say it with quotes cause a lot of people dont think its a real sport so i just say Athlete