Freedom # 3, Airplane Seats

Airplane Seats

I love to travel. We live in between our families; we are in Colorado. My family is in California and my husband’s family is in Ohio. Travel is the only way to see them. I don’t like wasting time driving when I can be spending time with my family and friends, so I prefer flying. I’ve been flying since I was an infant. I’m not scared of airplanes. I’m scared of airplane SEATS! So, it starts immediately. Strategically sitting my son in between us, so that their is plenty of room (poor kid), or sitting him in between me and the stranger as to give the stranger enough room; getting an aisle seat or window seat so I can push out and not into the other persons space; going onto seatguru.com to determine which seats on the airplane are the biggest…. it’s a mess. It’s just ridiculous. Then, getting on the plane! The whole time, getting the looks. The “please don’t let her be sitting next to me” looks. I feel bad too, believe me! I don’t want to spill into their seats! I don’t want to make their travel uncomfortable. So, then we sit. And of course, the seatbelt doesn’t fit. My husband is so sweet…. he will quietly ask the attendant for a seatbelt extender for me and they are usually pretty kind about it. But again, sometimes you can just see the annoyance in their eyes. I’ve had them pass the extender to me over the seats after they have down the “emergency procedures” before… that’s always lovely. No embarrassment there, when the whole cabin is watching. And heaven forbid I had to use the bathroom…. squeezing in there is difficult enough at a normal weight, let alone being morbidly obese…. So, my question as I’m in there trying to maneuver around is this…. How exactly does one join the “mile high club” when you can barely do what it is actually made for??? Huh? Ha-ha! Anyway, we went to Virginia in July. I happily plopped down in my seat, put the armrests down with ease, and buckled my seatbelt…. free of extenders…. not spilling into my son’s seat (or anyone else for that matter) and enjoyed my flight. And no, joining the mile high club is not on my list of freedoms!