The Aisle Seat (2020.03.02)

A while back, in the midst of the total Japan lockdown, one of my clients there amazingly got me a visa to travel to Tokyo.

I didn't really want go to Japan at the time; there was the dangerous flight, two week quarantine at Narita airport, and all sorts of other annoyances. However, being that they were paying for everything, I really didn't a choice to say no.

I really prepared for that flight, as I heard at that time they were packed. All the Japanese overseas were returning back to Nihon for fear that the US was going to be overrun with the T-Virus infections like in Resident Evil.

After booking that ticket, I immediately called up the airline and request an aisle seat.  I wanted to be able to get up, walk around, stretch, and go to the toilet all with any problems. I also got a stockpile of hand sanitizer, masks, and the hazmat suits, all of which I packed. The airline confirmed the seat. I had all my paperwork. Hotel reservation was done. All set.

The day of the flight, I arrive at the airport....trouble began immediately. I lost my hand sanitizer, my masks kept falling off, and my hazmat suit got ripped.

As I started to check-in I asked about my assigned seat.

"Wait is this an aisle seat?" I asked.

"No sir. It is a window seat." she replied.

"Ma'am. I specifically requested an aisle seat", I said with a bit of a rude tone. "I called the airline weeks ago to request this."

"Sir."

I interrupted her.

"I don't want that seat!" "

"SIR!"

"Can you just book me in an aisle seat???"

"SIR!!!!" she exclaimed.

"Do you not understand that sentence?" I asked.

There was about a minute of silence. It was a standoff, and I had really gotten sort of obnoxious.

"I mean, should I talk to your manager about this?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.

She looked at me with dagger eyes.

"All right, sir. I'll get you an aisle seat. It's all the way in the back, but that's what you want, right?" she asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"Fine." she replied sarcastically.

She handed me the boarding pass, then checked my luggage, and then handed me my bag tag.

During this time, she didn't say another word to me.... and to be honest, I sort of deserved that. But you know what, I wanted that damn seat.

On the plane, it was an absolute sardine can. EVERY SEAT was packed. It was essentially a sea of Japanese salarymen, but scattered throughout were the occasional American that was a resident in Japan. The two fat Japanese guys next to me actually quit their jobs in order to return back to Japan. They were also complete and utter otaku-s (GEEKS). During most the flight, they were picking apart every small issue from recent MCU movies. (Example, like how Steve Rogers could return a shield to Sam when it was destroyed by Thanos in the battle.)

The lady in the front keep sneezing. The kids in the back cried. The seats were cramped, the cabin was hot, and the people were FREAKING out.

I couldn't imagine sitting in a window seat at that time. For the entire flight, all that I thought about was that I was so glad I yelled my way into that aisle seat. That lady didn't deserve it, I suppose. But who cares... I got the seat.

13 hours later, the plane finally landed at Narita. Yes it was long, miserable flight, but I felt smug... I GOT THAT AISLE SEAT!!

As I left the plane, I ran into a couple of guys from the first class cabin, and overheard them talking. What one guy said made the trip absolutely perfect.

"So I'm sitting there a noticed an empty seat next to the window. The flight attendant then told me that SOME IDIOT was booked in a FIRST CLASS WINDOW SEAT, but then got into an argument with her demanding an aisle seat in ECONOMY."