Originally Posted by pinniped

My recommendation to other pax who want absolute darkness to sleep: bring an eyemask.

When I'm sitting in a window seat, I like the window shade open. In fact, that's one of the primary reasons I select window seats to begin with.

Sure, I'll usually shut it eventually going eastbound to Europe, but that should be my decision entirely. If some guy in the middle of the plane is annoyed, then he needs to get his own eyemask, end of story.