Not quite a tangle, but on my last trip on DL a bulkhead seat ahead was occupied by an elderly, senile, nonrev (apparently an FA's mother), I was in an aisle seat, and a babe headed home to FL was on my right (in our conversation earlier I'd given her my FT tage, so hopefully she's at least lurking by now ).

Ms. Senile decides it time to talk. I try to bury my face deeper in my my book. So Ms. Senile gets up and walks back a row and proceeds to carry on a conversation with Ms. Babe for several minutes while supporting her wait on my elbow, which is hanging a few inches off the edge of my tray. Ms. Senile can't remember what she said 20 seconds earlier, so every train of thought ("Did I tell you my son has 8 children?) is repeated, ad infinitum. After a while Ms. Senile decides I need to join the conversation and tries to close my book. Etc.

Eventually I am saved by seat belt lights and landing announcements, but Ms. Senile doesn't seem to notice. It takes some firm (nicely as possible but ...) suggestions to get her to return to her seat.

Then after landing she said I was "mean" for insisting she return to her seat.

If only she knew how my restraint I had exercised! Probably because she reminded me a lot a an aunt in a nursing home who was always claiming she'd just seen people dead for decades "at the bar down at the end of the hall".

I just figured she won't be flying much longer anyway, so my best course of action was to bite my tongue and suffer.

My thoughts, too -- I think this really belongs in TravelBuzz, so over it goes

Xyzzy
CO forum moderator

Film at 11...

Was it mud or Jello (tm)?

Oh paleze, you fly Red Tail enough...it happens there too

Worst was the anti-Semite on the SAN-MSP flight that went on and on to his seatmate about how the world was "really run"...finally the seatmate started to go off so at the same time my seatmate and I yelled "SHUT UP!"

Funniest was the drunk guy behind me EWR-DTW in F, after watching him Try to make it to his seat with his companion and then try to get seated and buckled they informed him he'd need to take a later flight (I only thought that happened on SWA)

Hilarious, although I'm sure it wasn't at the time.

Reminds me of that scene in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles when Steve Martin and John Candy awaken after sharing a small bed in a dumpy motel:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?E5EC157AC

I'll bet you didn't try to talk football with your seatmate.

Cheers,
Fredd

Nope, most definitely not.

I actually saw a fistfight at boarding time on Tiger Airways in Singapore (WN-style boarding without the groups, so actually more like Ryanair-boarding) while I was there last summer.

Good stuff!

Thankfully, I have so far avoided the seatmate from hell, though I remember a flight FRA-ATL on Delta where I was seated next to a (very nice, granted) young woman (army wife, if I recall correctly) with a baby in her arms. But don't get me started on babies on planes...

>>> time for you to join the conversation.

Surprise them by dominating the conversation. What do you like to talk about? Football? Astronomy? Your favorite movie? You mentioned that Ms. whoever kept repeating herself. You too can keep repeating yourself to steer the topic with.

>>> carefully climb over.

If the person in front or the person beside you won't let you out, push the F/A call button to get assistance.

>>> annoying baby next to you?

Pat his head.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

Yikes, in S'pore of all places ? Probably one of the worst places in the world to get into an altercation like that..

BTW alex0683de, in regards to your signature, you may want to do a search on "young flyers" or similar. On the AA board there are some interesting threads about kids that are not even in their teens or even double digits who have made top tier EXP (over 100K flown in a calendar year) many times over. 280K lifetime miles may be impressive to some but if the subject interests you, there are some interesting posts on the topic of real high mileage young flyers.

Last week, flying from LGA-IAH, I finally get my battlefield upgrade to seat 1E....Excellent, I think. I am out of coach and I really prefer the bulkhead.

I board the flight only to find a male and a female occupying 1E/1F. I glance at my boarding pass (as if I am don't know) and say, Excuse me but I believe you are in my seat. The woman stares streight ahead and the guy just looks up and says "I'm back there" as he nods toward the rear of the aircraft and dismisses me by returning to his cell phone call without another word. Now I am always willing to swap seats so a fellow flier can sit with his wife/girlfriend/business friend, whatever, but I am used to bieng "asked" and hearing a "thank you". Obviously none were forthcoming in this case so I took seat 2F without making a scene or calling over FA.

As the aircraft is taxiing away from the gate, I hear the guy in my assigned seat ask his neighbor: "So what's your name? Are you from Houston? Any good resteraunts there? Do you ave any kids?" It is obvious that he just wanted to "hit" on my would-have-been seat mate!!! (unless he also strongly prefers the bulkhead).

tray tables and reclining seats... the source of so much confrontation.
I watched a guy in front of me almost get shackled to his seat after taking a poke at the guy in the aisle seat in my row on a Canadian flight. It went something like this:

>Guy in 13C enjoying his glass of cheap plonk
>Guy in 12C cranks back his seat and causes cheap plonk to nearly end up in 13C's lap.
>13C Guy politely tells 12C that dinner isn't over yet and could he please raise his seat.
>12C tells him it's his seat and he can go and f*** himself.
>13B (old indian grandmother) looks like she would like to be anywhere but between me and 13C.
>13C points a finger at 12C and tells him to watch it
>12C reaches across and b*tch-slaps 13C.
>13C throws wine at 12C
>12C lunges across semi-reclined seat at 13C
>13D and 12D get up and attempts to restrain 12C while 14D and 14C are dinging the call button repeatedly.
>FA's arrive and start screaming at everyone to sit their a*sses down
>12C and 13C sit down and mutter pr*ick/a*shole at each other
>12C gets up again, turns around, lunges at 13C and wraps hands around throat.
>FA's arrive with Captain who then tells 12C to sit his a*s down and if he moves an inch from the chair, he will have him shackled.
>muttering continues for the remainder of the flight from 12C (poor old grandmother sitting next to me!)
>RCMP waiting for Mr. 12C and 13C at gate (with very loud protests from 13C).

I'd have tried to bed with 13B as to who'd win

You'd have tried to bed the old Indian grandmother? Is this Omni?

Unfortunate typo or Freudian slip? You decide.

My response would have been "Yes, and I'm up here. Please go back to your seat." Like you, I'm happy to switch if the seats are equivalent and I'm asked. If I'm not asked, I'll balk even if the other seat is better.