Originally Posted by WillCAD

I don't give a rat's posterior where anybody sits on the plane, regardless of age. It's all about behavior; well behaved children and adults are equally welcome to sit next to me, regardless of which cabin I might occupy. Badly behaved children and adults are most UNwelcome to sit anywhere near me.

Bad behavior comes in four main flavors for both children and adults, including:

* Noisy
* Smelly
* Physically Intrusive
* Health and/or Safety Risk

Whether a particular behavior fits one of these flavors is a matter of opinion, and the opinions can be pretty polarized (witness the ongoing, never-ending argument over reclining seats).

But generally:

* If you make noise that can be heard from more than 2 rows away, I consider you noisy.

* If you can be smelled from more than 1 seat away, I consider you smelly (I have a lower tolerance for some types of smellies, as I have rather severe allergies and get shooting pains in my head from almost all perfumes and colognes in the world).

* If you or any of your belongings intrude over or under the armrest or seatback into my seat, or if you continuously impact my seat (or me) such that the impact is translated to my body, or if you impact my belongings in the overhead or under the seat in front of me, I consider you physically intrusive.

* If you bring contagious disease aboard, I consider you a health risk. And if you become intoxicated or otherwise impaired, or attempt to lift a bag that is too heavy for you above my head, or engage in other behavior which might tend to put other people at risk of physical injury or damage to their belongings, I consider you to be a safety risk.

Those are just the basics, of course; everyone evaluates the behavior of others in their own fashion.