Retro-validation appeals to me, so it could be interpreted as: and - truly, I swear by God I am not making this up - I was granted a ticket with that exit row

Retro-validation appeals to me, so it could be interpreted as: and - truly, I swear by God I am not making this up - I was granted a ticket with that exit row seat In English, it's an old-fashioned idiom that a Robert Louis Stevenson character might have used. But English-speakers tend not to swear by God much these days - indeed, "swearing" usually means profanity.