Originally Posted by LTN Phobia

I do not think it is particularly submissive. It's simply my view that if I were the contributory factor to an issue arising, then I should take responsibility for that aspect without justifying their actions/reactions. It's definitely not an apology for his swearing behaviour - merely an apology for the disturbance. I'd still fully hold him responsible for his own conduct/reaction (I'd probably take up an issue his swearing and/or being loud after apologising for the disturbance, which is not exactly submissive, but of course, that would be easier to do if I weren't involved in triggering it!). I've managed to shut up quite a lot of people's loud swearing on board by speaking out, although I did not contribute to them - they were merely irritating me by being loud, and distressing some people who were more sensitive than me around them. But to do that, if I contributed, then I must first apologise for my side, or I can't justify criticising them

IMO far too often there is a failure to recognise one's own conduct and the effects it might have on others, and blame the entire situation on others in the modern world and I am not happy to be a contributor to deteriorating consideration and empathy towards others (along a similar line, I wouldn't complain about the noise from a child if the parents were making an effort to control the situation, even if it's causing me to have my experience completely ruined, because clearly, they are trying to control the situation, and I may even try to help instead so that perhaps others can have a somewhat better experience). I'm quite disappointed to see that many people have become 'me, me, me, I don't care about others as long as I'm OK (and my travelling companions etc. are OK)'...

Aeroplanes involve us spending time a confined, small space with people that we may not normally wish to spend time with. A bit of empathy, consideration towards others' feelings (entirely bidirectional - e.g. everyone also needs to recognise others' need for sleep/peace/quiet, but everyone also needs to recognise that babies might cry and there may be nothing the parents could do to stop it), and making a bit of allowances towards others and generally trying to be nicer to people, even those who we might not find particularly nice, can help to make the experience less unpleasant.