A man was left fuming after sitting in his seat on a plane and was immediately ‘moaned at’ by a fellow passenger, but people have said his actions were uncalled for and ‘rude’
There’s a lot of unspoken etiquette around plane seats, and people get very angry when you get it wrong. Most of us know that we shouldn’t sit in a seat that isn’t ours without first asking if we can swap, and there have been countless rows over whether it’s okay to even suggest switching.
But there are other seat rules that you should follow, even though they’re not talked about or written down anywhere. One of these rules is about reclined seats. Most plane seats can be reclined to make your journey more comfortable, but there’s one big drawback – reclined seats often get in the way of the person sitting behind you.
Because of this, many people don’t recline their chairs, no matter how much more comfortable it would be. But others don’t see a problem with it, and believe that if the chair can be reclined, then they’re within their right to do so.
The latter is the mindset one man had when he boarded a plane recently and instantly reclined his seat. The woman behind him called him “rude and impolite” for doing so without even asking, but he refused to move.
In a post on Reddit, he said: “I flew from Denver today, and a woman behind me said that I was rude and impolite for tilting my seat back. It wasn’t even a request; it was more of an accusation.”
Fuming at her reaction, the holidaymaker got revenge by keeping his seat tilted all flight. He added: “Given her tone, I decided that I would keep my seat tilted. She went on and on about how unfair this was, and I reminded her that almost every seat in the aeroplane could be tilted, and that’s what they were designed to do.
“She wouldn’t back down, and very loudly asked the guy next to her if she was right. He very calmly said that this had been an issue with aeroplane seats ever since aeroplane travel went commercial.
“She and her seatmate kept on talking about how unfair this was and what an inconvenience it was. She even pointed out that the man in front of me had not tilted his seat.
“I watched my movie and ignored her for the rest of the flight, but when we prepared for landing and tilted our seats up straight, she said really loud, ‘Finally, thank God’. I just chuckled.”
Commenters on the man’s post were split, however. Some believed he should be free to recline his seat if he wanted to, while others said it was “rude” of him to do so knowing how “uncomfortable” it would have been for the woman behind him.
Some said that neither the man nor the woman were at fault with the interaction, and airlines should instead be blamed for “cramming” people onto planes so that seats can’t be reclined without causing discomfort.
One person said: “I don’t mind if the person in front of me puts the seat back, I just wish they would give me a bit of a warning so I can move my things/hold my drink first so nothing is broken or spilt.”
Another added: “I never recline my seat because I know how uncomfortable it is for the person behind me.”
While a third stated: “This is one of those hot-button issues that gets everyone riled up. My steadfast opinion is that if it shouldn’t be tilted, then the seats shouldn’t be tiltable.”