Flying Southwest

I'm prepping to head back to Las Vegas for the CTIA show, a geekfest of all things cellular, wireless, mobile computing...

Southwest flys direct to Las Vegas - and I love it! Why? Because of the seating arrangement - sounds bizarre I know, but I can be an "A" or a "C" and still get a prime seat for the simple reason that nobody likes to sit next to a stranger. Which is pretty unreasonable, because the odds are heavily stacked against you that you will be sitting next to a stranger, unless you're flying with a coworker, who most likely will be a chatterbox.

Last time I flew Southwest coming back from Las Vegas, I was the very last person in line... but being full of faith, I ended up next to a older married couple in the seventh row in the aisle seat. He was in the middle and she had the window... very sweet couple, holding hands and all.

I normally get the middle seat in the exit row; while being in the middle, at least I get the legroom.

Then I saw this post from one of my favorite blogs -- Peeling Wallpaper -- reprinted here in its entirety - what a hoot and yes I do get free round trip tickets as Southwest awards a free ticket for eight round trips over a two year period...

xxx

Hey, at least you're earning frequent flyer miles

Middle seats on airplanes are a form of punishment. Yes, punishment. If you get one, you have lost a round in the game of life. You are a loser today. You waited too long to reserve your flight, or you have changed a flight at the last minute, and now you will be punished. Better organized people than you will get the more comfortable window and aisle seats. Or maybe it is luck that put them there and you in the middle. Does that make you feel better? That you are an unlucky loser? That fat guy ambling down the aisle toward your row? Yes, he will have the aisle seat next to you and thirty percent of your seat, too, by virtue of some simple rules of physics. The lady stumbling along, drunk before she even stepped onto the plane? She will have the window seat. She'll talk to you about her deadbeat boyfriend the entire flight, except when she has to get up to pee, which will be every twenty minutes. The unlucky loser in the middle seat in front of you has long legs. He's going to put his seat all the way back, minimizing your free space to something just shy of a laptop computer (forget it; no way it'll even open). Oh, by the way, the overhead bins are all full to overflowing. Your bag will have to go in the space where your legs were intended to be. It's impossible to say where your legs will end up. That's your problem. Anyway, stop whining, sit back and endure your flight. It's going to be a long one. Sorry, no food. And the movie sucks. Not that you can even see the screen from where you're sitting. Loser.