<p>actingmt, this is about hesitation.
it is a WA joke. We looooove to do a ton of “studies” wasting tax money on them, only to come up with the obvious. I agree, the connection between that and coffee drinks is rather a stretch. </p>
<p>I don’t go to Starbucks, but if you didn’t want to participate, couldn’t you just pay for your own order and ask to have the freebie passed on to the customer behind you? </p>
<p>Actually not what I was talking about (post #60) people in Vancouver don’t want to pitch in to build a new bridge over the Columbia so Portland rush hour is crazy as all those Washingtonians go back home from work in Portland. People in Eastern Washington don’t want to pay for major improvements in Western Washington even though it’s tough to have an inland economy if stuff can’t get to port. Busses take cars off the road which creates more space for drivers yet drivers don’t want car tab money going to buses that they don’t ride. Any totally valid points about waste and excess both in DOT spending and fancy hot beverage add-ons aside . . . if people are tallying pennies on what is supposed to be a feel good exercise then no wonder they can’t get past trying to calculate their own personal benefit in other areas that are supposed to be for the common good. Moving on now . . .</p>
<p>“Not to keep being the Grinch, but that’s another one that I have an issue with the airlines asking people to do. American, apparently, does that a lot. Now it’s one thing for an individual to see a soldier, talk to them, find out they are on their way to a deployment, and offer up their seat. That is kind and classy. However, sometimes airlines will try to guilt the entire first class section into giving up their seats for soldiers onboard, and that’s just wrong.”</p>
<p>Interesting. I’m a very frequent flyer and I’ve never seen that happen.</p>
<p>OK, so what do you do in these circumstances? Let’s say I’m flying business class on an international flight. I’m by myself. Someone asks if they can switch seats with me so they can sit next to their business companion or partner. I’ll almost always say yes, because big whoops, I’m by myself … does it really matter and why not help someone else? But there have been times we’ve been on the asking end of things – and people say no even though it’s literally a move from seat 7F to seat 8F or some such, where there is absolutely no difference in the seat. I think that’s kind of jerky, myself. I’ll always switch to accommodate people traveling together if I can.</p>
<p>But you wouldn’t switch from business to economy so they can sit next to their business companion or partner. </p>
<p>What about giving up an aisle seat? I had someone refuse that once when I asked because my daughter wanted to sit next to me. He asked her age first, though. She was 17 which was too old, I guess.</p>
<p>When I’m in first or business class (and I’m almost always by myself), I will switch with anyone who asks me. In fact, I try to notice if the person who I’m sitting next to is talking to someone, and I’ll just ask them if they’d like me to switch. I usually will do the same in coach, as long as it’s not to a middle seat. They appreciate not having to ask. A first class seat anywhere is great, as far as I’m concerned. But there are some people who make a big deal, and it is annoying. They will sigh, or groan, or say no, even if they’re just going to another aisle seat right in front of them. They really wanted THAT seat. It’s ridiculous. Usually what we’ll do is if there’s two of us traveling in first class, we’ll ask whomever looks nicest, first. If one of us is in coach and the other is in first class, we’ll ask the coach person if they want to swap and go into first class. Since they’re usually sitting in the middle seat, they have their stuff gathered and are outta that seat in about two seconds flat.</p>
<p>Only once I had a person refusing to trade his window seat in coach for my first class window seat. He sounded really strange and a bit jerk-ish, so I asked the dude on the isle side of MrB, and it took him a nanosecond to jump up from that seat and run to the first class cabin. Turns out, the window guy was simply very nervous, because he was waiting for his dog crate to be loaded into the plane, and it was his dog’s first flight! Lol. He should have just said that.</p>
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<p>No, airline did not ask. I asked the FA if it was OK to let the soldier have my seat. I did not identify myself to him-- never even talked to him but just quietly moved to his empty seat after I gave the FA my 1st class boarding pass. I had totally forgotten about it until you you mentioned the drink tickets.</p>
<p>Lest u think I am a saint, I wouldn’t have done it if it was int’l bz class </p>
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<p>This is less of an issue for me now because the airlines I fly now all have all aisle-access bz seats. But I would not swap an aisle seat for an window seat. </p>
<p>First world problems…</p>