What’s interesting though is that you were not flying at 32,000 ft, but rather flight level 320, which actual altitude was determined by a barometric altimeter

What’s interesting though is that you were not flying at 32,000 ft, but rather flight level 320, which actual altitude was determined by a barometric altimeter set to a standard pressure. It may deviate considerably form the actual altitude of 32,000 ft above the mean sea level, but the deviation is dictated by local atmospheric pressure, thus shared by all aircraft in close proximity.