Similar story here, but I was the cranky guy in the seat behind the recliner. My issue was the gentleman reclining would not move his seat to make it easier for the other passengers in my row to get into their seats. The middle seat was an elderly woman on the way to a funeral who was having trouble getting into her seat, but the guy didn't care. He couldn't be bothered moving his seat for a few seconds. So I put my feet on the chair supports in front of me and started bouncing them up and down. Hard. Long story short, I knew I was being a jerk, but he deserved it.

The woman going to the funeral was waaaayyyy too chatty and told me her cousin was sitting several rows back. They could not get seats next to each other. If I switch seats, there is a double victory: I remove myself from this situation and I don't have to sit next to this well meaning but annoying woman. So I go back to 28F, find the cousin and tell her we can swap seats. The cousin says okay, but as she is moving forward she whispers to me that she purposely chose different rows so she wouldn't have to sit next to her cousin!