Seat Defender

[Nate]

So I saw this on CNN earlier:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/travel...knee-defender/

A woman threw water in a guy's face because he used a device to prevent her from reclining her chair. This caused them to divert the flight.

As a former road warrior and regular flyer, I never reclined. I didn't feel like I was entitled to the other person's space, and didn't want them doing it to me. We were all in the same tin can. When it did happen, I dealt with it, but I immediately disliked the person in front of me.

I think the airline needs to have a clear policy on the use of these devices. If they don't they can't tell people not to bring them.

It wouldn't be a problem if there was a ton of room, but on planes, it's crowded and tight.

What are your thoughts?

[Formalhaut]

I've only been on an airplane once, but I never reclined my airline seat. I didn't even know if you could!

I guess it would be annoying if someone in front of me did it to me, but I like to think I'd be sympathetic. Maybe they had back pain, who knows. It's not quite at 'crying baby' levels of annoyance anyway.

[Mirage]

Am I the only one who asks whoever is behind me if it's OK for me to recline my seat? Are americans really as big assholes as that comment section makes it look like? I can assure you that if someone crushed my knees and refused to stop doing so, I would make a scene. A big one.

[noxious.sunshine]

Well, it looks like this situation was handled properly.

The lady should have asked first and the guy shouldn't have been a dickwad and used the device.

I always fly Southwest, so I doubt their seats even recline. Even if they do, I wouldn't do it. I don't want my head in someone's lap like that. lol

Car wise, if there's someone behind me on a road trip, I won't lay my seat back -all- the way. Just enough to give me a slight incline to sleep for awhile.

[Shorty]

I seriously doubt anyone's knees would be crushed. Using a device to prevent someone from reclining in front of you is super rude. Either politely let someone in front of you know that your body can't handle it if they recline their seat, or book a seat that doesn't have a chair in front of you. Simple as that. I would be super pissed if someone installed one of those things behind me without telling me when I'm expecting to be able to recline.

The argument occurred in the Economy Plus section, which provides United passengers up to 5 inches of extra legroom compared with standard coach seats.

I'm pretty sure the guy was just being an asshole.

[Rantz]

I don't get it when people are assholes to each other like this instead of just communicating. If I want to recline my seat on a plane and there's a person behind me, I ask them "Do you mind if I recline my seat?" If someone in front of me reclines without asking, having quite long legs and almost always getting squashed by this, I ask them "Sorry, would you mind putting your seat back upright? I don't have much space for my legs". Doing this, nobody has ever declined me. Everybody's happy.

I've heard one or two stories about people being rudely declined in situations like that, and in those cases they've asked their flight attendants to switch seats because of this (and in one case I remember, got bumped up to first class).

[Shiny]

When I fly on Delta I intentionally buy a seat that is against the wall of a plane (which incidentally no one ever seems to want). I can recline as far as it will let me. Problem solved. Also yeah, what Rantz said. You can just ask how far you can recline it back and likewise the person can speak up and politely ask the person to put it back. People are jerks.

[Vyk]

I don't fly. But I live in a really "armpit" area of the country where customers and drivers are super self-entitled and expectant and rude, so I can imagine how things are on flights in this area, even though I never fly. If I could stop someone from zipping recklessly in and out of traffic, and/or cutting people off needlessly, or trying to scam retailers on bogus returns and whatnot, I totally would. I imagine if I were a frequent flyer I would probably feel the same way. If they won't ask if it's okay to steal my space to recline, I think they shouldn't be able to recline. Maybe put those knee defender things in so if they don't ask, they don't get to. And if they do ask, I could discreetly remove them so they can recline. As long as my arms have enough space I think I'd live. But if people are being ridiculously self-entitled about it, I'd probably be pretty irked. I wish trains weren't a dying thing in America. I'd much rather spend a day relaxing on a train with plenty of room and plenty of time to write and game and enjoy the view over a 3 hour flight with 5 hours of hassle and loads of discomfort

[~*~Celes~*~]

Vyk, I think all of NWO is like that...Toledo isn't much better -_-

The one time I flew on a plane i reclined my seat a little too far and was asked to put it back up. I did and didn't complain. It's not hard to be polite, people!

[Mirage]

I seriously doubt anyone's knees would be crushed. Using a device to prevent someone from reclining in front of you is super rude. Either politely let someone in front of you know that your body can't handle it if they recline their seat, or book a seat that doesn't have a chair in front of you. Simple as that. I would be super pissed if someone installed one of those things behind me without telling me when I'm expecting to be able to recline.

The argument occurred in the Economy Plus section, which provides United passengers up to 5 inches of extra legroom compared with standard coach seats.

I'm pretty sure the guy was just being an asshole.

Well not crushed to bits, but when you're as tall as rantz and I am, it is often uncomfortably tight even when seats aren't reclined. Depending on the type of seat, it can be really painful if someone reclines it.

[Psychotic]

Anyone who does it to me gets kneed in the back a whole lot. Not in some intentional badass protest but because I can't help it, it is actually impossible to move or stretch your legs without doing so. I will admit I do take a little bit of joy out of them putting the seat back upright after taking a knee I have discovered the joys of the exit row now though.

[Iceglow]

After a lifetime of living in London and dealing with buses which have ever decreasing leg room (though I hear the new routemaster gives more) and overcrowded underground cars. I'm pretty much immune to how little leg space I have and make do. That being said, much like Paul, the person's back is likely to eat some knees and believe me I would not be apologising to them, don't like it? Sit up straight.

This reminds me of all the arguments you get in London about the Tube and how awful it gets with overcrowding and how people don't like others touching them. People, if you're so smurfing desperate to shave 2 minutes from your journey, that you'll cram 80 standees or more in to a space meant for 60 and then have the 60 or so seated people in there. You can't complain if someone ends up caught in an awkward position against you. Believe me I've had a girl with her hand holding her handbag trapped in my groin and whilst it wasn't exactly comfortable for me it was more embarrassing for her.

[Old Manus]

I would make a scene. A big one.

How very...American of you

[Bubba]

I don't get it when people are assholes to each other like this instead of just communicating. If I want to recline my seat on a plane and there's a person behind me, I ask them "Do you mind if I recline my seat?" If someone in front of me reclines without asking, having quite long legs and almost always getting squashed by this, I ask them "Sorry, would you mind putting your seat back upright? I don't have much space for my legs". Doing this, nobody has ever declined me. Everybody's happy.

Agreed. This is the solution to pretty much any awkward situation. I can't remember a time when this nice, open approach has not worked. People just need to stop being assholes.

I don't really understand reclining chairs so I never use them. They just seem a bit pointless. "Ooh, my chair is at a rather uncomfortable 90 degree angle. I better adjust it so that it's at an 85 degree angle. Ahhhh, that's better! It's practically a bed now!"

Not really.

Also, I generally don't have problems with knee space as I fly Emirates like a boss

[Mirage]

Ø

I would make a scene. A big one.

How very...American of you

If someone refuses to stop inflicting pain on you, would you just pretend everything is perfectly fine?

I thought I made it clear that I would only do that if diplomacy failed.