Megn

Both of those things have happened to me. It's what happens when you're a petite woman. Ah, the memories...

OrcaSnack

Thank you!

Yes.

GadgetFreak

At one point when I was quite a bit younger and had long hair and facial hair my wife told me I looked a lot like she imagined a hit man for a drug cartel would look. That may have limited my exposure to such things.

AllieKat

I've never heard "the look of the clouds is upsetting" but I've had people reach over and close my shade before for several reasons from "too bright" to "afraid of heights."

Should've picked the window seat then, *******s. The light thing has happened to me as well.

Basic rule - some people are horrible, horrible people. The Knee Defender serves no purpose other than to allow horrible people to treat their fellow humans even more horribly.

BeatCal

I always thought the window was a shared part of the plane. I have no problem if asked to close it in less I am reading by it or starring out it
But aisle has as much right to request it open if she wants to look out

mrklaney

1. My number one and most-often-abused rule: If someone is behind you, do NOT lean back in your seat. It’s that simple. I am sure not everyone agrees with me on this one, but this is how I tell the difference between considerate and inconsiderate people, to put it plainly. People that have any empathy for others would never impose themselves into their personal space. People who are selfish and indifferent either don’t think of the impact of their actions; or worse, do consider it and decide to go ahead anyway. (“It’s my right to lean back. After all, that’s why there’s a button!”)
There is almost no worse travel scenario than being crammed in the middle seat between two large individuals and the jerk in front of you decides it’s ok to lean his grimy scalp into your immediate field of view! Not only could this trigger claustrophobia in many, but much worse. If you have a laptop perched on the little table behind the seat…. you can imagine the damage this can cause. The next time it happens to me, that guy is getting off the plane with a nice mohawk - or at least bits of barf bag sprinkled on top of his bald spot. There simply is not enough room to lean back- especially in coach, where the distance between seats can be unbelievably tight. (alright, the dude in front of my right now is wearing a baseball cap – no fair!)
Leaning back can only be used in these uncommon circumstances:
a. No one is behind you, or
b. You are in front of an exit row. They have enough room and their trays are not attached to the back of your chair, or
c. You are in first class. But, don’t lean way back into someone else’s space. Use common sense. or
d. On a red-eye or late evening. Everyone is expected to lean back and sleep. Sorry purist, this seems like the right answer to me.
e. You have some medical condition and would suffer some agony otherwise –this has got to be very rare.

CitizenWorld

2 words.

"Business class."

IMH

How odd...:
But I suppose I should still say welcome to FT, mrklaney. Hope I'm still around in 2025 for your second post.

Loren Pechtel

If leaning back wasn't appropriate the seats wouldn't recline. The presence of the button *IS* evidence that it's appropriate.

HMO

Or allowed ^

GadgetFreak

This is becoming the Freddy Krueger of threads.

jawnbc

My number one rule is: you pay for a seat and you are entitled to use all the affordances of that seat. If it reclines, you can recline it. Or not recline it. But it's your seat--especially on a red-eye flight where people want to sleep. Except during a meal service.

I will, if I choose to, recline my seat back slowly as far as it goes. Sometimes I do this because <b>I</b> want to use <b>my</b> laptop and the person in front of me has reclined.

I travel a lot. I put a fair amount of time and effort into my arrangements, particularly with respect to seat assignments. I often pay a good chunk of change to get a premium seat near the front of the cabin (when my status doesn't entitle me to one already). My employer will not reimburse me for those surcharges, but on a 24-30 journey from NZ to Europe it's worth the price of admission for my comfort.

Clueless travellers who don't plan accordingly are not my problem. Couples that don't reserve seats when they book and aren't sitting together are not my problem. The only customer whose happiness is my issue is mine.

I pity the fool who tries to use this sort of device on my seat. I pity the fool!

gobluetwo

or Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.

BeatCal

Mrklaney
I will gladly buy you a drink anywhere we meet. You are so correct. The problem with America today is those who think "their" happiness comes before anybody else's - even if it makes others uncomfortable - as seen in the posts after yours.
I don't know what happened to the Christian people who believe as you do. Now it seems the majority are quite selfish.
I guess the reply to Loren etc would be that the presence of the device makes it appropriate to use?!

schmoove

You could argue, that the person who doesn't want the person in front of them to recline could be the selfish one.

When it comes to reclining, both parties are selfish as they are both looking out for their own interest. The person reclining doesn't care about the comfort of the person they are reclining into and the person being reclined into doesn't care about the comfort of the person in front of them.

Just like anything else in life, it comes down to who has the power to control the situation & the power happens to lie with the recliner.