"This made me wonder: when I fly with my husband (Europe's most restless traveller), I'm a default middle-seater. Perhaps, buried in a book, with earplugs in, I'm missing out? Could I be forging friendships or at least having an interesting chat? That may appal you, but I'm reading psychologist Dr Gillian Sandstrom's forthcoming book on talking to strangers, and she is evangelical about the many benefits: we learn, make connections, stimulate our creativity and get more comfortable with uncertainty and rejection."
"Airlines expect us to pay extra to choose our seat now, and refusing means becoming the filling in a stranger sandwich, but actively embracing that seems perverse. Some, I learned, claim middle seats offer the best of both worlds you can see out of the window but enjoy a relatively easy escape and you're ethically entitled to both arm rests (good luck explaining that to your neighbours)."
Airlines charge extra for seat selection, leaving some passengers as default middle-seaters or prompting voluntary middle-seat choices. Some travelers argue the middle seat combines window views with easier exit and an ethical claim to both armrests. Others frame the middle seat as an exercise in humility and gratitude, relinquishing main-character energy. James Cashen adopts conversation and a leadership role as coping strategies when stuck in the middle. Psychologist Dr Gillian Sandstrom emphasizes that talking to strangers yields learning, new connections, enhanced creativity, and greater comfort with uncertainty and rejection.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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