The front aisle seat adjacent to an empty middle

Medical school interviews represent the culmination of three years of toil, sweat, and tears. During my two months of back-to-back interviews, I was more than ready to harass, intimidate and threaten anyone standing between me and an acceptance letter. Somehow I felt this included the Southwest passengers on flights to and from my interviews. I was determined to get a front aisle seat adjacent to an empty middle seat on every single flight — and no one was going to sit in my way.

This is clearly the most desirable seating arrangement on any flight. A front aisle seat with an empty middle guarantees you at least one armrest, easy access to the restroom, respite from the potential overweight or chatty neighbor, more storage space, and earlier beverage service.

Due to Southwest’s open seating policy, obtaining optimal seating requires unwavering resolve. Checking in precisely 24 hours before the flight does you little good and frequent flyer miles do you nothing at all. Even if you manage to snatch a front aisle seat, anyone can plant themselves right next to you. The key is to seem as undesirable a neighbor as possible.

Typically, once I had acquired a front aisle seat, I would begin my ritual by placing my personal belongings onto the middle seat and my strong smelling food onto the middle seat tray table. I would then proceed to take off my shoes, put on my head phones, recline my seat and feign sleep. As a measure of last resort, I planned to bring up my propensity for vomiting on airplanes, but unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to use this approach.

These two months have passed and I certainly still love the front aisle seat adjacent to an empty middle, but I cannot help but worry that in a moment of karma an interviewer observed these not-so-subtle airplane tactics…