I Got the Better of That Trade

[kevin_standlee]

I got off to the airport earlier than expected, catching a 20-minute-earlier train than I originally planned, and that's just as well, because the queue for security at Oakland Airport stretched clear back to Baggage Claim.

We boarded without incident on the nearly-full flight. As we were preparing for departure, the flight attendant did the usual "are you prepared to do the exit-row stuff?" questions for the folks in the exit row, two rows in front of me. The woman in the exit-window seat made some joke about "I'll let him handle it," pointing to the man in the aisle seat. The flight attendant very seriously said, "If you really mean that, I'll have to re-seat you. We're not allowed to joke about this."

The woman allowed as how she wasn't comfortable being responsible for opening a 41-pound (19 kg) door in an emergency, so the flight attendant started to consider how to re-seat her. I raised my hand, caught her eye, and said, "I'll swap. I've no problem lifting a twenty-kilo door." The flight attendant looked relieved, and waved me forward.

So I swapped from my regular aisle seat in a full triplet to an exit-window seat with the center seat empty. The woman complained about moving to a full row and losing the legroom, but she'd brought it upon herself.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I fly out of all 3 Bay Area airports occasionally. Oakland usually seems to have the longest security lines, and certainly has the least room for them.

I did once have to be moved out of an exit row. This was an Air France intra-European flight, and I could not guarantee that I could understand emergency instructions spoken in French.

[marahsk.livejournal.com]

Heh. One time the flight attendant asked me if there was anything preventing me from performing the emergency duties. I answered "Extreme laziness;" she could tell I was joking and didn't seem to mind. Is it possible that, in your case, it wasn't so much that the flight attendant couldn't take a joke, but that she could tell that the woman wasn't really joking?

The woman complained about moving to a full row and losing the legroom, but she'd brought it upon herself.

She doesn't seem to understand that things come with a price, and that the price of sitting in the exit row is being responsible for exit-row stuff in an emergency. But if she's not comfortable with opening the door, then it's better for everyone that she not sit there.

[dsmoen.livejournal.com]

You definitely got the better part of the trade. I can't sit in an exit row, personally.

[cogitationitis.livejournal.com]

I would be happy to sit in an exit seat, but I'd miss the window. I can lift about 50 pounds, so the weight isn't a problem. The one time I volunteered, though, I had kids with me, so thy said no.