Every time I fly, I dread being seated next to a male. Because EVERY TIME he encroaches into my seat. Last month, I took a trip to California. On the flight there, I generously swapped my aisle seat for the middle so that my daughter and I could sit together. The “gentleman” that I gave the aisle to promptly claimed both armrests* and spent the entire flight with his shoulder in my seat space.
On my flight home, the woman seated next to me was very overweight. Possibly twice the size of the guy on the first flight. She didn’t bump me once. She managed to contain herself in her own seat and never touched the inner armrest.
Men take up more space because society teaches them they’re entitled to it. Women are not.
(*the middle seat sucks and that person should get first dibs on both armrests because they can’t lean out of the way.)
There are no such exercises. I know this as somebody who has had one. But I guess the author is to be aided in ridiculing and spread ignorance regarding men’s health issues because manspreading. Lets keep pumping out that sperm, and CO2.
“That word, I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Now that I’ve got that out of my system:
Perhaps it’s conceivable to you that I’m not talking about the average traveler who is merely weary, but actual rude individuals who are being inconsiderate to their other fellow travelers.
Perhaps you will further indulge me in the conceit that sometimes the latter is obvious, even to a casual observer.
You haven’t been on the rush hour bus that I use to get home from work. A substantial minority of women of all ages sit in the aisle seat and pile their shopping or handbag in the window seat. Men do it too of course and even more of both sexes sit by the window and fill the aisle seat with shopping and backpacks.
B) Touching another person or their belongings could possibly result in physical confrontation; so while this post was funny to read, I’d still advise passengers to ‘pick their battles’ carefully.
My scenario is in Norway. I would be most unlikely to move someone’s property but I would also be very surprised if doing so caused a threat to my safety.
So far a polite request that they move themselves or the shopping has worked. So in my case is just an occasional minor annoyance that is outweighed by the opposite behaviour that sees strapping teenage boys help old ladies on and off the bus with their shopping and people of all sorts tapping me on the shoulder if I fall asleep last my usual stop.
It “looks” sloppy and disheveled. It’s a dick move if there is limited space.
I’m sorry for your oh so difficult first world problems of being tall. You can reach things on high shelves. I can’t. I fit in smaller spaces better than you. First world god damn problems.
So yeah. It is unacceptable that you cannot sit like a civilized human being. If sitting is so uncomfortable. Stand. Don’t take up 3 spaces because you would prefer to air out your loins.
As one of the guys most people don’t want to sit next to, I apologize. I was born this way. Rather, grew up this way. My shoulders are slightly wider than the seats. Enough so that if I’m on the window side, I guaranteed to be in the next person’s seat. So I book the aisle. Unfortunately, when they roll carts down the aisle, I have to lean towards the middle seat. Sorry.
And I’m guilty of manspreading. Biking made my thighs abnormally bulky. On flights, I’m big enough that my thigh doesn’t go under the armrest, so that keeps my legs together. But on subways, it takes a conscience effort to keep them together. Annoying, but worth it to sit. If the subway isn’t crowded, I don’t bother. But as people board, I make certain not to encroach the seat next to me.
These aren’t the only situations I have to be conscience of the space I take up. I do what I can, when I can. And it frustrates me when others don’t bother. But I do have sympathy for people who are trying, such as some of the people who are posting here.
I can only stand in one spot for a limited amount of time without walking around, or sit with my knees too close together or without putting my feet up. 10 minutes of that and I’m sore enough to need tylenol. 20 and I’m gonna need to lie down for a bit. I can go quite a bit longer if I can pace, spread out a bit, or if the seating has those barstool-type footrests.
I try to be considerate of people around me, but I’m not going to actually incapacitate myself to do it.
In shared spaces, when does one’s personal comfort trump someone else’s? Is it okay to take up two seats or prevent others from also sitting to preserve one’s own comfort?
