I was sitting in my garden the other day, daydreaming (something I do quite often, I’m afraid) and a random idea scuttled through my mind. Out of the blue, my thoughts turned towards plane travel and I remembered how I always insist on booking the aisle seat. I’ve never really stopped to find out why exactly I opt for the aisle seat, compared to the window seat or the middle seat (ugh!), but this time I decided to probe this general preference of mine a bit further. I began wondering if one’s choice of airplane seat somehow reflects one’s inherent personality. Out of curiosity, I quickly grabbed my laptop and googled this topic. Lo and behold! There were so many articles on this topic. I could not believe my eyes. Apparently, my guess had turned out to be spot on!
I read loads of stuff about this, and here, in a nutshell, is what I gathered:
The Aisle Seat person could be any of the following: a) someone who loves freedom (after all, you are free to get up anytime and wander or go to the bathroom, without having to say ‘excuse me’ to the gently snoring person in the seat next to you), b) you are a focused and goal-oriented person (you have no time to day dream by looking out the window and much prefer reading a book or working on that business proposal well in advance of the looming deadline, c) claustrophobic (the very idea of having someone sitting on either side of you is enough to make you feel suffocated)
The Window Seat person could be: a) a dreamer (how lovely are those fluffy, puffy clouds chugging through the sky..they inspire you to poetry…or almost!), b) a nester ( you love the idea of having your own little corner…it makes you feel snug, safe…almost as though you’re in a home away from home), c) A private person (you don’t really want to make small talk, so you’re happy looking out the window and basically avoiding all human contact, other than to look up politely and request a luke-warm coffee when the stewardess walks by)
The Middle Seat person can be: a) an extrovert (what fun! you can talk to two people, and there will never be a dearth of topics, b)disorganised (you forgot to book a seat well in advance, so guess what, the only seat left was the middle one)
Human beings are deeply complex, and I doubt very much we can box people into pigeon holes, depending on which airline seat one chooses. But, to me, at least, reading about how something so minor as a choice of seat can say so much about you, was highly entertaining.
So which airplane seat is your favourite?