Hi, my name is Lizzey Erlebacher, and I love the middle seat on a plane.

Crazy right? Someone who voluntarily picks the middle seat. But if you ask me, it is the best bang for your buck. Yes, I know, the aisle has leg room and the window has a better headrest if you plan on sleeping. But the middle seat has strangers on both sides of you. This means you have double the opportunity to make a friend. Ever since I have hopped on the middle seat bandwagon (the only people on this bandwagon are me, myself, and I), I have had more enjoyable plane rides.

My love for the middle seat roots from my fear of flying. I absolutely hate turbulence. It brings out all of my irrational feelings and thoughts. So you can only imagine how nervous I get when I am flying alone and there is unexpected turbulence. One time when I was booking a flight to New York, the only option was a middle seat. At that time, I wanted a window so I could hopefully sleep and not get nervous from any turbulence. However, I didn't really think anything of it since the flight was not too long, so I booked it anyway.

When I got on the plane, I took my seat and put my headphones in. I started playing Word Connect on my phone to make the time pass. The person on my right saw that I was playing. As he kept watching me play, he clearly saw that I was struggling to find different words. So, he started helping me. A couple minutes later, my headphones were out, and me and the person to my right were holding my phone and enjoying a nice game of Word Connect. Before I knew it, we landed in New York and the flight was over. Although I never got this man's name, he is just one of the many people I have interacted with after sitting in a middle seat.

Although each time I may not make a friend, I have double the opportunity to people watch. People watching has always fascinated me along with seeing what goes on in other people's lives. On my most recent flight, I was in between and man and a woman. I had also forgotten to pack headphones, a nervous flyer's biggest nightmare. The woman to my right was an elementary school teacher who was grading papers. Each new student's paper she was grading, I was following along to see what that student would get on the assignment. When I got bored with that, I followed along with the man's show since he had subtitles on. Even though I didn't talk to these people, it felt like I knew who they were by watching what they were doing the whole flight.

There will always be something about the middle seat that I love so much. Whether it's the thrill of people watching or actually meeting someone new, you can always count on me to take the most underrated seat on the plane.