This is my first time posting to this site, but after an incident today I just had to share.
My family and I flew on United this afternoon from Chicago to Washington Dulles. Shortly after take off we hear a woman loudly complaining to the woman in front of her that she needed to put her seat up. The older woman in front of her had tried to recline her seat and the woman was trying to push the seat back up. When the older woman in front of her tried to explain she simply wanted to recline her seat and rest, the woman behind her gets irate and is raising her voice to the woman, complaining that the seat is touching her leg. We could not believe this angry woman was yelling at this poor old woman just trying to mind her own business. We're thinking at this point that this crazy woman has just completely lost her mind. When the flight attendant intervened, the woman became even louder, complaining that the woman shouldn't be able to recline her seat. Mind you, this woman doing all the complaining wasn't a big person and she had her two kids sitting in the same row - she could have switched seats with either of them. She had plenty of room. It seemed clear to those of us around her that she had some misplaced anger issues, that she was clearly taking out on this poor woman who had the misfortune to be seated in front of her. So, when the flight attendant leaves to get another flight attendant, the woman grabs or pushes the top/back of the old woman's seat. My husband and I were watching in disbelief. So when the other flight attendant arrives and is trying to explain that the woman has the right to recline her seat, the irate woman's husband chimes in arguing that the woman does not have the right to recline. The irate woman is so loud at this point that everyone is looking and wondering what is going on. It was unbelievable. Since when do people not have the right to recline their seats? What do people expect when they fly in coach? If this lady felt like she needed so much room why didn't she and her family fly business class or first class? I realize the airlines are making it difficult for people by craming people in to these little seats with little leg room, but for a passenger to take it out on innocent people just trying to mind their own business is unnaceptable? I felt so bad for this poor woman who was stuck sitting in front of this crazy woman for the remainder of the flight because the plane was full. I'm only sorry that this woman didn't crack before we were in the air so they could have kicked her off the plane.
I must give the United flight attendant credit for handling the situation in the best way possible. She remained calm and assertive and made the best of a difficult situation with a person who clearly had anger issues.