Of course it happens, but it doesn't EXCUSE the behaviour. The most egregious part of it is the attitude of "I can yank on your headrest if I feel like it so STFU" that I got from that particular passenger. Anyone with that kind of attitude deserves a colonoscopy with an angry puffer fish.

Inconveniences are fine. Rude, deliberately inconsiderate people are NEVER fine.

Actually, in coach, I cannot stand up straight while in front of my seat, due to the closeness of the seat in front of me. As I am overweight, in order to get myself upright it IS very difficult to do it with just the armrests - they are too low. I'm still half-crouched and not yet balanced to stand by the time I can't use them anymore on the way up. So yes, it is sometimes necessary to use some thing else. I try to use my own backrest instead - if I can twist myself around to do so - or the wall of the airplane. Then I have to get out without falling backwards - also fun, as my center of gravity is about 5 inches off from where my feet are. I do apologize if I have to touch the seat in front of me, of course, but sometimes I must or I'll fall.

LOL! I love it!

And yes, I get to experience this ALL the time (also throw in here the same neanderthalic troglodites who hit you on the head with their backpacks as they are marching to their 26B, and you are just trying to enjoy a pre-departure beverage)!

In economy class? Yes, actually it is hard to use the armrests. I've tried. I'm not sure, but I think they're too low as another poster mentioned. I'm not overweight - well, not much anyway - and I still feel that the seat in front of me is practically in my lap so I can't simply stand straight up without touching the seat back. I do try to lever myself with my own seat back sometimes, but that just makes me lean over awkwardly and usually flop back into the seat.

The armrests in Y work fine for me. It gets only problematic if the seat in front is reclined. It is almost impossible not to hit the front seat. For walking through the aisles I recommend to hold on to the overhead bins like the f/a normally does.

Anyway when you fly in Y you automatically give up any privacy and you have always to anticipate the worst. Especially since too many fellow travelers have only limited developed manners.

I have to quote this because that is a fantastic line! :)

I too find this behavior annoying, and I have asked people to stop it in the past and pointed out why it's irritating.

Same deal for people yanking seatbacks when getting out of their rests.

Many have simply not realised how irritating it is to other people! I feel that if I can manage to do it then most other people should be able as well, and sometimes a little education helps. I will give the elderly or infirm a waiver from this, although I have seen some "elderly" who are clearly very mobile abusing this.

Yep. Absolutely. Bring on the puffer fish!

People grabbing my headrest annoys me to no end.

I agree that this is an inconvenience. For people who are unable to get into the seat (whether age, physical issues, etc) I don't get bothered. But for others who appear to be without restrictions, it's annoying. Also, it seems to be the same people who insist on putting all their bags into the overhead bin, slamming their elbows into you to take the whole arm rest, etc.

This week I decided to try something after the same person pulled down on my headrest three times before the flight even took off. I hit the recline button the next time and the seat went all the way back. So he got the pleasure of a fully reclined seat in coach. A bit obnoxious, I suppose, but I figured he'd appreciate sharing my annoyance.

I find seat grabbing highly annoying. The one's that really annoy me are those who while using the back of my seat to pull themselves up grab my hair, taking a few souvenir strands with them and still don't apologize. (as others have said, the old or infirm or those who apologize are exempted). The corollary to seat grabbers that also annoys me, is the aisle person (usually a husband to the window seater) who can't be bothered to get up to let her out of the window seat, so she has no choice but to grab seatbacks to try and squeeze past the lazy oaf.

^^^^^

It IS that difficult if you have your seat reclined into my lap. About the only way to get myself out from under you is to grab the back of your seat to propel myself.

On what airline can someone in front of you recline far enough to require that? I have NEVER had to touch the seat in front of me to get up. Sometimes I've bumped it accidentally, but I've never pulled myself up by it.

I know the OS A319,A320 and A321, where it is not possible, to work with a notebook on the table, when the seat is reclined. :mad:

If you're in the aisle seat in Y, then IME, most aisle armrests will lift, if you move the little "catch" forward (is on the underside of the armrest, towards the rear of it) and simultaneously lift the armrest. Can be fiddly, even difficult, sometimes, but once lifted is easy for one to just swivel their knees/body into the aisle, then stand up. Cuts out any issues with how far the seat in front is reclined. Only really useful if you're in the aisle seat, and applicable for A/C I've flown in (incl Boeing and Airbus). YMMV.

Who is going to go to that trouble just to avoid grabbing the seatback in front of them?

The one time I flew Jet Blue I particularly appreciate the channel in the molded plastic frame just below the overhead bins -- it made an easy-grip hand-hold for standing up. Why can't more airlines incorporate thoughtful design features like that which increase passenger comfort at minimal cost?