jb3t

Is it me or do a large amount of people seem to rush to a window seat and then immediately shut the shade? This irritates me. As I board A16-A20, I typically grab exit row aisle. It seems that 75% of the time, a person strolls along a few people later, quickly grabs window and then SHUTS the shade for the entire flight. Might get lucky 1/2 through and have the person inch open the blind for 10 seconds and then shut again. I’ve even had this often on clear, night flights. I once had a guy fall asleep flying into Vegas at night (who does not want to see that?) so every 2 min, I reached over to inch up the blind until it was open. My contention is if you’re going to just shut the shade, take an aisle seat.

Now... I get if you’re trying to sleep, nestling into the window, if the sun is shining in your face, or if there’s lightning that you’d rather not see but come on, if it’s an hour or two flight on a nice day and you’re not being bothered, keep the shade open. Haha.

rsteinmetz70112

Some people like to sleep on the flight and don't want to have to get up to let other people out to go to the lavatory.

twitch76

Peoriaman1

You won't have that problem with me.... I always take the window seat and always leave the shade open, unless certain situations dictate maybe I should leave it closed instead (such as if the rising or setting sun is shining directly into someone's eyes). For flights near sunrise or sunset, I'll even choose which side of the plane I sit on based on being able to keep the window open without blinding anyone.

Bear96

Maybe they take the window seat just for the sole purpose of controlling the shade and ensuring it is shut, because they want the cabin (or at least their row) to be as dark as possible so they can sleep or look at a small screen with as little glare as possible, and hate the people who leave it up all flight when all there is to look at is boring clouds or Nebraska.

luv2vacay

While you covered the "if you're sleeping part", even if you're NOT sleeping, since you have to bring your own "entertainment", it's difficult to see the screen a lot of times if the shade is up and the sun is blaring in on it. I always close the shade (regardless of airline) in case others are trying to sleep as well, or trying to watch their devices (even if flying DL with their IFE).

NoStressHere

1st off, almost nobody wants the middle.
Some do not like aisle as they want to just rest or be in their own little world. No bathroom. No getting up, etc.

Then, they want to sleep, or rest/sleep against that wall.
Or watch tv.
Or just do not like the bright sun.
Or want to cool off.

Personally, I am bothered when on the aisle, or maybe even ACROSS the aisle and the direct sun is blinding me and they guy at the window is totally unaware how bad it is for others.
Sorry.

Peoriaman1

I like to follow our progress and I'm better than almost anyone at identifying random small towns and highways from the air. Its one of my few real talents.

Just imagine "Rain Man" in an airplane: "That's Salina... Salina Kansas down there..." That would be me.

LegalTender

I like the European rule. Shades open on takeoff and landing. It's reassuring to see the last 2 minutes on approach.

Other than that, the aisle pax can have it.

ryw

Isn't that what 7A/8F are for? (or 9A/10F on the 737-800), so people get the window space without the actual window? Or eye masks.

It used to annoy me a lot, but I've sort of given up being annoyed. It mostly bothers me on takeoff/landing when people close the shades; the rest of the flight I feel like they can do what they want, even if it bothers me.

dlaue

DCAFly

Funny you mention Nebraska. I've always said that the speed limit should be inversely correlated to the pleasantness of the scenery. For example, the speed limit should be 185 in Nebraska.

jamesn00

I'm confused. If you want to look out of the window why don't you take the window seat?

swingaling

You can't have it both ways. Window seat controls the window shade. If you want control over the window shade, I'd suggest you should take a window seat.

Exiled in Express

I don't sleep well in places not a bed, being able to lean against a cabin wall greatly improves the odds of a sky nap.