armrest sharing
Seat boundary negotiation
The unspoken negotiation over who gets the armrest between adjacent seats on airplanes, in theaters, or on couches.
Since most seating offers one armrest per boundary and two people who might claim it, armrest sharing involves either silent territorial assertion or awkward compromise: We did that thing where our elbows touched and both pulled away.
Etiquette guides have proposed rules—middle seat gets both armrests, or each person takes the front half—but no consensus has emerged.
- elbowArm's middle joint
- airplanePowered flying machine
- middle seatChair between two others
- window seatChair beside the pane
- aisle seatRow's outermost spot
seat · territory · turf war · boundary · stranger · etiquette · middle · cramped · tug-of-war · courtesy · armchair · theater · cinema · negotiation · unspoken · unwritten rule · social contract · awkward