Right....
The first point you raise is very important, and you've done a great job in noticing it and reporting it. They owe you some explanation!!!
As for self help exits I can only tell you what my company's procedure is:
[Just checked our Bible!]
Self help exit
rows myst be occupied by at least
one person capable of operating the exit. If the
row is empty it will be necessary to move a passenger to achieve this
If pax load is low and the centre section of the cabin has not been allocated due to a/c trim requirements or the seat has been blocked due to a tech. defect, it is not necessary to move pax to achieve this.
In your case you were sitting in an em.exit
row for both take off and landing and given the loads it seems resonable (and technically correct) that the cabin crew didn't move the pax in 12B back to his seat for landing. This if you were flying with my company. Other companies might have different procedures.
However....you didn't mention whether you and the pax in 12B received a very short briefing by the CC on how to operate the door in case of an emergency. That is
compulsory in most companies (definitely in the UK and Italy) and personally I find it a good way to understand if the pax sat next to the em. exits are a bit tipsy, nervous, or ready to take this responsibility. After all, em.exits have more space for a reason, it's not just to be able to stretch!!!!
FBW
