Battle of the armrest

I've expressed how much I dislike when big folks ooze over and under the armrest into my airplane seat from their own, but last night, while flying home from Chicago, I endured another type of airplane neighbor annoyance.

Boarding the aircraft, I was pleased to see that the man next to me was a skinny little fellow who probably had a 28-inch waist. I was excited that I wouldn't be stuck between my window seat and a hippo.

However, this scrawny fellow was one of my more annoying airline neighbors ever. I don't mind people that pull out computers to get some work done, but there is absolutely no need to bogart the entire armrest or to jab your neighbor in the side repeatedly as you type. It probably also goes without saying that if your computer prevents your neighbor's tray from descending, you're probably overflowing into your neighbor's personal space.

Panda!!!! hates confrontation, so instead of saying anything to the little man, I took the earliest opportunity I had to rest my own arm on the armrest, leaving him no space to put his. And I held firm. For three hours. Even though the position became uncomfortable and even though it became obvious and strange when I used only my right hand to do anything, I refused to cede the armrest.

I don't know whether or not I can claim victory in this battle, but at least I caused my little neighbor some discomfort since he had to twist to the side to continue working on misspelling words in the press release he was writing. Something about how Cisco is finding a solution to the enterprise "blind spot."