kaka

choosethedrew

A406toHeathrow

I am most often in J for work and so I am invariably going to be sitting facing either a complete stranger or a colleague, both of whom I am likely to want to avoid close-quarters small talk with!

I usually wait until after the safety video and then go for the button.

I have had a couple of awkward screen-button-related moments.... one time we went for the button at the same time and it was like a privacy duel! (I won ;-)).

Another time the egg was on the face of the other person who, arriving at their seat after me and clearly annoyed they were in the aisle with I in the window seat, proceeded to angrily slam on the button to raise the divider.... the issue was that our divider was not one of the good ones and it dropped back down with a thump every time. This didn't dissuade my dear seat neighbour from trying a number of times over the space of 20 minutes ..... seriously awkward how much he wanted that screen up - to no avail

South London Bon Viveur

You should have blown him a kiss

A406toHeathrow

I had to use my book to disguise my laughter! Especially as I know those dodgy screens can usually be fixed by a little bit of careful man-handling (I didn't let him into that secret though)

Soupdragon62

My last flight where the screen didn't work ended up slightly awkward, for me at least, as the gent sat facing me spent a good part of the flight blubbing uncontrollably at whatever he was watching on the IFE.

The 8000 avios was well earned in this case

Dubai Stu

I think there is a legacy behavior at work here on the poster's part. When you were in close quarters with someone for a number of hours, you did a brief social interaction to not be rude and to make both persons a little more comfortable if you needed to ask a minor favor of the other. Now that international first class is effectively isolation pods, the behavior doesn't seem to make sense.

missdimeaner

HMPS

orbitmic

Not so much selfish as dangerous - but the passenger can't really know when is or is not dangerous (as nothing is said) while the crew know and should have enforced it.

That said, CIHY on this thread as other resident crew members on others confirmed that the only time the screen is considered to endanger passengers' safety is during the safety demonstration when crew show where the exits are and explain about floor lighting. The moment the safety demonstration is over the privacy screen is considered fully safe to raise and so till disembarkation.

HMPS

Can I help you

There are many things that could impede and evacuation but the screens are made of strips of plastic and wouldn’t in my opinion cause a problem.

orbitmic

I think that there is a pretty strong chance that particular procedure will have been very openly discussed with (and validated by) the CAA. Like CIHY, I suspect that of all the things that are allowed that could potentially make an emergency evacuation slower and more difficult, this one would be very low down the list.

LTN Phobia

IMO headphone cables are genuinely dodgy, especially thicker ones. If you get that wrapped around your ankle or your body, it's very hard to escape in a panic when you might not be thinking clearly. IMO it's far more dodgy than the screen (maybe with the exception of the F one which is more solid, but they aren't placed where it might impede evacuation).

I've just realised we've somehow drifted from the divider screen etiquette to headphone cables

PETER01

Screen etiquette? Try flying down the back in Y or sometimes WTP like I do and the armrest etiquette is far more stressful like who gets to use it.