Aviatrix, if you are in the habit of being surprised, perhaps you should ask for additional clarifying details before passing judgment on others - such as my so-called disregard for airline safety. That was a cheap shot, and your defense of 'surprise' doesn't mitigate it.

It is not that reclining is irrelevant to safety. It is that the OP was apparently upset not by the safety violation, but by the violation to her feelings upon being verbally attacked by the stranger.