I have hearing loss so I have to sit up front in the spot closest to where the teacher is teaching, so not any front row spot works especially if it is on the far side of the room. So if someone took my seat or was sitting in the spot I needed, I would be slightly annoyed. But it is a valid reason, that is fully documented.
Yeah, I understand if someone has medical reasons like vision or hearing problems to sit in the front. But then again, couldn’t they get glasses or hearing aids?
I guess humans are truly creatures of habit. Guess that is why they say it is good to wake up and sleep at the exact same time everyday(though most people sleep and wake up later on days when they don’t have class).
The first day of classes is always pretty crazy, and the seating just shakes out however. By the third or fourth class, an unofficial seating chart tends to develop, at least among the people who actually care (typically, those in the front or middle seats). I like having the professor know where I am to call on me and learn my name faster, and I like sitting in the same spot because it makes me feel comfortable while testing.
I would never actually tell someone to move if they took “my seat”, but I’ve had someone try to take my seat one semester, very late in- after I’d been sitting in the same spot the entire semester. It’s frustrating not so much because I need that particular seat (though I’m used to it); but because I also respect the unofficial seating chart and wouldn’t want to cause a chain reaction by taking someone else’s front/middle seat. And since most of the good seats are “claimed”, when someone just takes your spot, you have to sit in a crappy seat. Which stinks.
Frankly, this situation doesn’t really occur (in my experience and class sizes as noted), because the first few weeks usually settle exactly this. Not by conflict either, just naturally. Person 1 and 2 usually both want the consistency, and one will decide to settle elsewhere or close to the area or something, and all is solved without either of the two talking.
This happens occasionally, and usually is a one off occurrence that no one really thinks anything of: it’s understandable sometimes. This isn’t some really formalized system, it’s unspoken mostly. But it has applied to every class I have been in thus far. I can tell you my seat in all of them still, and I know that the other seats have people tied to them as well, and that if someone upsets the chain, the best bet is to go for a normally open seat.
Both had the opportunity to get the seat they wanted settled in the first few weeks of the class. I don’t see any double standard. You also assume that student 1 doesn’t already have their own seat at this point, which someone is considering for them.
@hsseniior2 I do wear a hearing aid and still need that accomadation. And I know I’m not the only one