Corinne CrawfordI had already arranged a ride with a very reasonable priced transfer service and I arrived with plenty of time before getting on the plane. We were stopping at Amsterdam before going directly to Detroit. Landed in Amsterdam and found my new gate without a problem and as I boarded the plane and walked down the aisle, I saw up ahead that my row, 37, was occupied by a dad and his 5 or 6 year old son. This was over an 8 hour flight and I am not the most patient when it comes to kids. If this kid was a brat, I could anticipate whining and fussing for 8 hours and even if this kid was good, there is a lot of fussing and talking and crayons and fidgeting that I was not looking forward to so before I got to the row, I stopped to chat with one of the flight attendants who was standing about 4 rows before 37. I leaned towards him and apologized for my upcoming request that may sound jerky but …… I don’t like children I said.. is there any other seat available? He was amazingly sympathetic and looked at his phone which presumably contained seat information for this flight and after a moment of scanning the information, told me to take seat 40 C, the first seat on the aisle of the middle section. This turned out to be ideal and most certainly probably an unpaid for upgrade. It was a seat in front of a wall so there was plenty of leg room, I could stretch my legs all the way straight. And there was no one in the middle seat. I enjoyed the space and slept off and on for the 8 hours until landing in Detroit, gathering my luggage and awaiting my aunt and uncle who graciously offered to pick me up the day after thanksgiving and let me stay the night at their house as I picked up my car, which they again graciously were allowing me to store during the time I was gone. They even saved me a leftover thanksgiving dinner, which I enjoyed before going to bed after a long travel day and driving the 2 hours to my parents house.
Fall 2022