I Believe That is My Leg…

Piggy-backing on Tiff’s #Tiffisajerk posts, I never know how to act in this situation.

I’m all for letting the person in the middle seat have 100% of the arm rests.  But sometimes on flights, the person in the middle seat puts their arm over the arm rest and onto my leg, which makes me feel really uncomfortable.

I don’t think they mean anything bad about it.  But I wake up after a nap to an arm on my leg, and I don’t really know what to do.

Sometimes I said, I’m sorry, I’m not really comfortable with your arm on my leg, which ends up making things even more awkward.

Other times, I shift my leg and cross it over my other leg, and lean over the arm rest on the aisle side (usually resulting in me getting clipped by a drink cart).  The co-passenger’s arm will usually stay where it was, still over the arm rest on the chair.

But I thought about it even more on a recent flight when the man in the window seat fell asleep and put his hand on the lap of the girl next to me.  She and I made eye contact, and I lifted up my arm rest, and she moved closer to me to pull her leg out from other the guys arm.

Again, I don’t think there is any ill will intended here, but it creates a super awkward, uncomfortable situation.  When I point out it is uncomfortable, it seems to make the situation even more uncomfortable.

Thoughts?  Have you had this happen in flight?

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

Check Also

flight cancellations

How to Handle Sudden Flight Cancellations

How do you handle sudden flight cancellations? A few years back when I regularly flew …

5 comments

  1. Simple solution — don’t fly in coach! 🙂

  2. Skirt or Pants?

    • Jeanne Marie Hoffman

      I usually travel in skirts and dresses, but I always put a pashima over my lap

      • I am a 6 ft 200 lbs male and never wake from a nap with a stranger’s hand on my leg. Perhaps these are creeps. Also, they my consider the pashima adds to the challenge.

  3. Pretend to re-adjust your seating position “to get more comfortable”. Do it in a way so that their hand falls and then sit back down accidentally pressing their hand against the armrest to make it very uncomfortable for them.

    As a guy it has never happened to me so there may be some creepy intent. Best to nip it at the bud.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.