Is it me or does the IQ of the average airplane traveler continue to go down?

This morning I flew from LGA to ORD on a S80. I don't normally fly American, but my wife has status. I like that her standby perks apply to all on the res, not just her.

The story...

I boarded this morning and was sitting on the side of the plane that only had 2 seats in the row. After a while, no one was sitting next to me (I had aisle, window was open). The guy sitting behind me asked if he could leave his backpack on the seat next to me for the flight. I told him that I didn't feel comfortable with that. He then said "what's the big deal" to me and proceeded to secure his backpack on the seat next to me with a seatbelt around it!

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Did this guy really think that would fly with American (or any airline for that matter?). I wish I had taken a picture of the backpack in the seat with a seat belt around it. LOL.

I never had to escalate the backpack issue to a FA as someone came to sit down in the seat next to me before the doors closed.

Are people that oblivious to the rules of air travel? Anyway, I shared this story earlier today on my tumblr, Airplane Diaries (bit.ly/AirplaneDiaries), and thought this community would enjoy.