As a short passenger I've noticed people tend to believe that they can lay claim to your space based on the assumption that you don't need it. I've often ended up in the middle seat only to have someone stretch their legs into the space in front of me and hang their arm over the armrest and into my seat. Believe it or not, even at 5 feet tall my legs cramp while flying and I like to use that space to stretch them as much as is possible. And I don't care how nice looking you may be, I still don't want to feel your elbow digging into my ribs or your forearm brushing against my side.

To be perfectly blunt, I paid for my seat and the area directly in front of it and as such view it as mine for the duration of the flight. I always remain polite, but I have my limits.

I've been asked to move my small carry on bag and laptop into the overhead so the person next to me could put their large bag under my seat because I "don't need the leg room anyway". I politely declined and suggested it might be less awkward for everyone involved if they put their bag in the overhead, but was told it was too big and that they "didn't want it smashed".

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