I am Israeli you fly LY i am sure you understand

Likewise. A brief acknowledgement of their existence and then put on the headphones. God bless personal IFE. Saves me from having to explain to the chatterboxes that I don't really want to talk with them.

It doesn't always work, unfortunately, as some people suck at reading body language. When that happens, I very firmly explain that I am, indeed, not a talker and would prefer to be left alone. It has only escalated past that point once, which was with a drunk investment advisor. Thankfully, the FA intervened before I resorted to strangling him with his seatbelt extender.

Ohh good lord Doc you made me laugh so much that I chocked on my tangerine.

So enviroian (how did you come up with this screen name?) did you manage to get some dates? :p

Normally when I sit down, I say hello, just manners, if they want to talk then I converse. Normally I fly lh, so there is time to sleep and talk.

I have met so many interesting people, and so many people who think they are something when they really are nothing.

I met one of the men I date on the plane. I met an x-prime minister, who invited me several times to dinner and to the UN. I met a publisher of a major newspaper (read worldwide) and the conversation was incredible. I met the publisher of Conde nast, who invited me that evening to a cocktail where Joyce brothers was there.

Some fascinating people. Then I had aisle mates, those "nouveau riche" who think their sh…t doesn't smell… and their noses where so high up their as..es.

Lots of interesting people.

But humans fascinate me.

This seems to happen automatically on WN. People either start socializing at the gate (kids especially) and then get on the plane and sit with the same people, or get on and seek out quiet-looking people to sit next to.

I usually start with a polite hello. You can usually tell very quickly if someone wants to chat or not. Over the course of 20 years, I've had some great conversations on planes.

Somewhere long ago I read an etiquette piece that suggested if your seatmate had a magazine or newspaper, he *may* be open to conversation, whereas a book reader typically wants to be left alone. Probably a moot point in 2014...these days it's more like earbuds vs. Beats by Dre...

Glad to hear you were amused.:D

But watch out for those homicidal tangerines!

Depends on the WN flight. Intra-CA and intra-TX flights tend to be 99% biz travelers. I would think that leisure flights would have more folks unfamiliar with airplane etiquette, regardless of carrier.

NB: Not defending WN, as I avoid them, save for the aforementioned TX and CA flights.

I find the same in Europe. While I rarely chat for the whole flight, it's rare that I won't at least have a brief conversation with the people around me if I'm on a budget airline (I flew to Iceland last year and had people 2 rows ahead shouting back advice on what to see!). When I fly on the likes of BA however I'm lucky to get an acknowledgement - and even then it's just because they need to move to let me get to my window seat!

I also stay in hostels a lot and often find that the cheaper the hostel is, the more friendly and approachable the people are. Purely anecdotal of course, but there seems to be a pattern based on price. Maybe it's something to do with people on budget airlines being more likely to be an occasional leisure flyer whose excited about their upcoming/finished trip, as opposed to the jaded bunch on here whose always in the air for one reason or another!

Some people indeed do not read body language, or even obvious clues like the earbuds inserted into place and the magazine in my hands.

On one 5 hours flight the woman next to me initiated conversation. We were both on the same connecting TPAC flight and worried since our incoming was arriving late. After the conversation seemed to run its course and I was settled into my reading/music, she would start talking again. Now, she wasn't trying to convert my religion or sell me anything but this woman did not seem to understand that I couldn't hear her with the earbuds in but she would pepper me with questions since she was a new-ish flyer and lean in and look at me so I couldn't ignore her. I only took out one earbud and kept the magazine on my lap (as a hint), get her to repeat her question, answer it then it would happen again! The saving grace was that this didn't start until the last hour of the flight.

Oh, upon learning we were on the same connecting flight she even suggested we sit together! Thank goodness my prebooked seat was not next to hers.

On the other hand, I had an enjoyable conversation with the other 2 lone passengers in my seat row once. We were all moderately experienced flyers. The conversation was about the current state of air travel and lasted about 30 minutes. After that there seemed to be a tacit understanding that each person wanted to be left to their own activity for the rest of the 90 minute flight.

Then you have to find a way to politely say, "Ma'am/Sir, I really am not up to conversing right now and would prefer to be left alone. I hope you understand." If they continue get progressively ruder.

If only there was a way to get someone who wants to chat with her to sit next to her and someone who wants to be quiet to sit next to you. As I am one of those extroverted people whose idea of an enjoyable flight is chatting with my seatmate through most of a flight, I'd welcome such an option. I've even been invited to take an empty middle seat next to someone I met at the gate who enjoyed talking to me, and I moved from an aisle seat a few rows back.
I do respect it when someone doesn't want to talk. I just think people would be less miserable and unhappy about flying if they opened themselves up and got to know the person next to them rather than silently hating that person.

And some of us are introverted, and would be more miserable and unhappy if we had to talk to the person sitting next to us.

I used to socialize but after a while, every conversation was the same.

Where do you live?
- Oh there, I was there once, went to this restaurant, do you know it?
What do you do for a living?
- Cool, I do this...let me go into excruciatingly boring details about my job for 2 hours, PS would you like to buy some of the stuff my company makes?
Do you have kids?
- Me too. Aren't kids funny? Let me tell you a story about my youngest son....
Boy that politician sure sucks, doesn't he?

I'd rather just nap now.