Originally Posted by
kchoya
The point is that the airline is being inconsistent. They moved him out of the exit row because of safety concerns, namely that he would compromise the safety of others by failing to "perform the exit row duties" because the OP would be more concerned with assisting his family. The same would be true by moving him to the back of the plane - the OP would would be concerned with assisting his family, and in attempting to reach the front of the plane, would compromise the safety of others.
The folks in the exit row have a very specific critical function in helping to assure the safety of others- opening the damned door and not being distracted. While it is true that someone elsewhere could compromise safety as well (because of a kid in another row, panicking or just being a dingus), this is unlikely to have the same impact as a failure by the person who is supposed to open the exit.
And, by the way, I used to be of the school of "who really cares because we're all going to die anyway" until I checked my facts (with the help of good posts in prior threads similar to this) and learned that other things do happen.
Cheers.