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10 passengers we love to hate: Day 10 - Aggressive seat recliners
Dear passenger in front of me - I appreciate that you've taken the captain's suggestion to "sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight." I'm trying to do the same thing myself. Heck, we're stuck in this metal tube together with nothing to do but sleep and watch movies for the next several hours. But I gotta be honest - you're getting just a bit too aggressive with your seat recline.Sure, I can appreciate that seat recline button is there for a reason. By all means, use it to get comfortable. But you're reclining that thing like you're competing for a medal in the X-Games. Was it really necessary to recline your seat back BEFORE we even took off? The flight attendant even asked you to bring it upright for takeoff and landing, but you went and put it immediately back down again. Is that even safe? It's not like this coach seat reclines into a bed and we're busting out our pajamas.
And would it kill you to ask me first if you're going to drop that comfy airplane throne down on my face? You don't always have toddlers or Verne Troyer sitting behind you. Those of us over six feet tall have trouble even fitting our knees behind the seat, letting alone getting comfortable, and now your seatback is all up in my meager personal business. And forget about using my laptop - with your seatback so aggressively reclined, my laptop is looking more like a giant Dell-brand oyster that's clamped shut on a pearl. How am I supposed to squeeze my hands on the keyboard?
Maybe I'm just that angry guy who likes to rant for no reason whatsoever. I am kind of cranky today. But I suspect, if you were to ask any other passenger in my position, they would feel the same. It's a tight space to begin with - cut the rest of us some slack and ask me before you recline that La-Z Boy like it was nobody's business.
Read about ALL the passengers we love to hate.
Filed under: Airlines, Transportation
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Julie Jun 12th 2009 1:53PM
This is hilarious! You are really in trouble if you have the last seat on the plane, and then the person in front of you is an aggressive seat recliner. Then you really have nowhere to go.
Jeff Jun 12th 2009 1:53PM
I think the World would be a better place if there was no such thing as reclining seats on airplanes.
Andrew Jun 12th 2009 3:00PM
i take it you've never been on a 15 hour trans pacific flight...I can't imagine trying to sleep sitting straight up in a seat.
Jeff Jun 12th 2009 3:56PM
Touche. I haven't flown for 15hrs straight, only a few transatlantics. Maybe just domestic flights then?! No matter the length of the flight, it's super angering to have someone recline to the point that their headrest is at your chest. It almost seems hostile, especially when you're stuck in the metal tube for hours next to this person who just downgraded your space a few crucial inches.
Joyce Jun 12th 2009 2:45PM
This happened to me on a flight from JFK to Frankfurt. The woman in front reclined her seat so far back that I had no alternative but to recline my seat. There was no room for my laptop on the tray. When I tried to get up and go to the restroom, I jostled her seat and this upset her. Naturally, I did it a few more times.
brian Jun 12th 2009 3:56PM
I have been in about 2,873 verbal arguments with small/average size people in front of me that think they need the extra room more than I do (I'm 6'5"). I'm always very kind the first few times I ask them to reconsider.
Phillip Jun 13th 2009 12:24AM
No such problems on Cathay Pacific.
Their new seats are a clamshell design (in their words). The seat back is fixed, and the way you recline is to slide down and forward (kind of like slouching). It's ok, but I'm willing to trade off a true recline if it means the person in front of me can't recline back into me and stop me from using my laptop
BL Jun 13th 2009 5:00AM
Yes, you are just that angry guy who likes to rant for no reason whatsoever. Airplane seats recline. I, the passenger in front of you, paid for those few degrees of space behind my seat. You paid for the few degrees of space behind your seat. Buy a smaller laptop or fly business.
That being said, to recline before take-off, during meals, or in an abrupt jerky manner -- yes, that is inconsiderate.
And you tall people who think you are entitled to more space because the person in front of you is shorter than you?! HA! Absolutely absurd. When they start basing fares on passenger height, feel free to bring this ridiculous argument up.
Sincerely,
The Midget In Front Of You Who Paid Just As Much As You Did, Maybe More, Who Didn't Design The Airplane.
ncsustash Jun 15th 2009 8:12PM
What he said plus 10
AE Jun 25th 2009 9:39AM
Oh, please. There is absolutely no reason you have to recline your seat and take up the extremely limited space of the person behind you. My husband is 6'2" (how dare he be so tall!) and when the person in front of him reclines their seat they bang the seat painfully into his knees. He cannot sit with his knees in front of him, and there certainly isn't anywhere else for them to go. So what if the seat is able to recline, it's absolutely rude and inconsiderate to recline your seat. Just sit up for a couple of hours, it's not going to kill you.
boredwell Aug 4th 2009 10:29PM
Well, in opposition to the aggressive recline is the aggressive whiner. Always careful, depending on leg room, not to recline too far, there are those who don't want you to recline at all! On a recent flight, I was told by the person in the middle seat behind me, "Move it forward!" He wasn't exactly practiced in diplomacy. I apologized and readjusted my seat though it was only midway. He wasn't satisfied with my dial forward. He tapped me too energetically on the shoulder. "My wife's pregnant," he said. She was behind me. "Well, so am I, " I said in reply. "Selfish!, "he continued, "then YOU should KNOW better!" Meeting the wife at the lav, she apologized, "He's an Alpha passenger," thus coining a new term for those anti-recliner bullies.
Brad Hill Sep 8th 2009 11:04AM
This one is at the top of my list. You can't exactly blame people for using an airplane feature, and IMO reclining buttons should be removed for a decade or so -- let the recliners be frustrated for a while, and give the non-recliners some happiness. In the meantime, the non-recliner's only option is to make recliners pay for their lack of consideration. Aim your blower at their lowered heads. Find their kidneys through the seat with your knees and dig hard. Shift positions constantly and make them feel every move. When the ride is smoothest, make their ride bumpiest. In short, make the upright seat a better experience for them.
(But seriously, a short request by the captain or flight attendant to be considerate when reclining would go a long way.)