If you’ve ever flown Southwest, then you know they have “open seating.” If you haven’t, then let me explain: 24 hours before your flight, you can start checking-in. Check-in determines boarding position, so I imagine most people do what I do and set an alarm for five minutes before check-in starts and just wait for the green light. On my last Southwest flight (that I’m actually sitting on now), I clicked “Check-In” right as the clock turned and still ended up in B Boarding. I don’t mind it though, since I only packed a backpack and have no need to wrestle people for overhead storage.
Once boarding position is determined, seating is a free-for-all. First come, first serve.
One thing you do get to notice when you board in a later group is this strange phenomenon of middle-seat avoidance. At 6 seats across, 3 on each side of the aisle, people will sit on the windows and aisles, leaving the middle seat open. It happens every time. I look to the back of the plane and see it on every row. People will even bypass 50 open middle seats and the opportunity to deboard first in order to continue this trend until there is no option but to bravely sit in between two complete strangers. They actively avoid having to sit next to and interact with other people on the plane.
Every time I’m about to board a Southwest flight, I tell myself I will take the first open seat I see, even if it’s a middle. But somehow, it never happens. The first few always catch me off guard. Then I start asking “What if that person doesn’t want someone next to them?” “What if there’s an open row somewhere?” “Do I really want to make someone stand up?”
I’m proud of myself today for only being ten rows back and crawling over two people to get to my window seat. It’s the closest I’ve ever been to the front on Southwest.
I’ve been thinking about this seating situation the whole flight. How often in life do I do this? How often do I avoid interacting with people because I am uncomfortable? Because I don’t want to inconvenience them? Because It seems easier to build walls between me and strangers?
I was given some feedback (of the positive variety) recently that I am a forceful friend. That when I decide to be in someone’s life or that I want them in mine, I have a habit of forcefully and intentionally inserting myself into their existence. I put myself in their space. I go out of my way to make sure they know they are important to me. I middle seat them, no hesitation. No questions asked. It’s definitely not the same with strangers, though. I ask the questions all over again. “What if I’m wrong? What if that’s not the spirit, and it’s just me? What if they are busy? What if, what if, what if…“
What if we, as Kingdom-bringers, had a middle-seat taking mentality more? No man is an island, so let’s toss that out the window now. But I always fall into the thought pattern that says I don’t want to inconvenience people, so I keep my thoughts and words and what God is doing to myself. But how selfish is that? How selfish is it to keep this truth, this joy, this life-altering reality to myself?! So what if I make someone uncomfortable or step on someone’s toes!
I bet Jesus would have been a middle-seat sitter. But more than that, He would have found that person that everyone on the plane avoided – the one who ate too much garlic for lunch, or is clutching the air sickness bag, or who thinks every armrest and all the storage space belongs to him. He wouldn’t have put in his head phones or stared out the window to avoid conversation. He would use every moment to intentionally love and care for that person, in whatever way they needed, from boarding to wheels down.
I challenge you (and myself) to be a middle-seat sitter. Intentionally pursue people. Put yourself in their space. Don’t separate yourself, seeking the safety of the buffer zone. You carry light and truth and love, and people need that. They’re desperate for it. Find the first opportunity and go for it. It might be a bit inconvenient or uncomfortable for everyone at first, but I bet you won’t regret it.
