Incorrect. They manipulate the sign to control passengers all of the time ... especially during takeoff and landing,

If by "manipulate" you mean "keep pax safe during potential or known times that it's unsafe to be up" then yes, you are correct.

BTW, over 21,000 posts? HOLY CRAP!

Have you seen the "doc"? 45,000.

I don't fly as much as most of you...I've never even heard this announcement and on most flights (which are generally international) there are lines and nobody cares Especially after the meal service/movies end/hour before landing.

Personally, I try to book a seat a few rows from the restroom on the aisle, so I can *go* when there is no line, but obviously this isn't an option for everyone on the plane. Reality is with 300 PAX on a plane, some people will need to go at the same time whether the crew likes it or not. And airline food can be a source of all that *going*

I just simply don't believe this. It is too much of a coincidence that on every AA international flight I have been on, the "Fasten Seat Belt" light comes on a while before meal service and stays on until long after the trays are picked up again. I can count on the fingers on one hand the number of times there has been any turbulence.

You may be correct in the other things you mention, but this you will never get me to believe at least not on American.

As a side note, I heard the captain several times ask the cabin crew if they wanted the sign turned on when I flew the old PanAM. When I asked the FA if they really meant for everybody to sit down the whole time, she normally answered something like: "No that's just for coach so we can serve the meal faster". In those good old days I flew F or J, now it's just Y all the way.

Hmmm. Well I can only speak for CO. This is not policy and I've never encountered it. Occasionally the captain will ask the pax to stay seated if possible so that we may serve them better. It's really only an issue with full flights since there is no way to get around the cart other than wheeling it all the way to one end or the other.

It's more than just that. American crews seem to take the cake in having the seat belt sign on for the greatest portion of a flight ... even when there is little/no turbulence. And I don't believe that American crews are any more forgetful than non-American crews vis-a-vis the seatbelt sign.

The seatbelt sign during meals is certainly coordinated by at least some AA and DL and NW employees.

Holy Crap is right... that's why congregating by the lavs is a big issue.

As to manipulating the seatbelt light, or neglecting to turn it off, I had a flight two weeks ago from CDG-DTW on NW where the light was on almost the entire flight, there was no turbulance at all. At one point after leaving the WC I stopped by the galley to refil my water bottle and the FA (who probably didn't want me hanging out while she sat and read her book) told me to sit down because the seat belt sign was on. I smiled and said I would, then poured the water from the big bottle into my bottle the way I always do- by holding the big bottle an inch above mine, so the mouths of the bottles don't touch, (like safe sex) and, of course, since there was no turbulance, I didn't spill a drop.