Ten years ago, when I was on an airplane and I introduced myself to my seatmate, and told them [I was a psychologist], they’d move away from me. … And now when I tell people what I do, they move toward me.

Seligman contrasts two moments—“ten years ago” versus “now”—to dramatize a shift in how the public relates to psychology and, by implication, to his own work in positive psychology. The joke about seatmates moving away evokes the stereotype of psychologists as intrusive analysts who might expose uncomfortable truths. The reversal (“they move toward me”) suggests that psychology has become associated with help, well-being, and practical self-improvement rather than stigma or suspicion. It also functions as a small cultural history: as ideas about happiness, resilience, and flourishing entered mainstream conversation, the psychologist’s role became socially attractive, even sought after.