I agree that the middle seat gets both the armrests. Of course, only one of them is under my control, so I guess my rule is whichever armrest is opposite the middle seat.

However, I find the armrests way too low on planes anyway (due to my height), so it's not really an issue. My arms are always uncomfortable on planes. To use an armrest, I have to kind of lean to one side, anyway, so I can't really use both of them.

To clarify your math a little bit, the 12 minutes per flight is an average over all flights. Using your assumptions, the average battle time per flight where armrests must be shared with strangers is one hour. Then if we further assume that most FTers have a false sense of entitlement, then getting along for one hour IS too much to ask! ;)

All that matters to me is that the armrest is down. When I was young and inexperienced and nice, the morbidly obese person in the seat next to me asked if she could raise the armrest because it was uncomfortable. Of course I wouldn't mind, I said. :eek: And one LAX-ORD flight later, I was a bit older, a bit more experienced, and a bit less nice. Now I defend my space like a junkyard dog.

I agree - middle seat gets both arm rests. Seems as though few people follow this practice, although I always donate my armrest for anyone suffering in that horrible seat.

What really gets me is when you have the middle and get to the arm rest first, then you get the "touchy, feely" types who seem to think nothing about rubbing against your arm the entire flight. That drives me nuts!

I found a wonderful resolution that saves me from getting annoyed - stuff your pillow against the person's arm and viola - personal space returned. :)