Just wanted to stop by to give a quick wave to all the ableist posters in here who just called me an asshole for reclining my seat when I fly so that my chronic back issues will permit me to be physically capable of movement after the flight ends (completely setting aside the pain). Apologies for not being born rich enough to only travel first class.
Thanks for your input. I hope I’m sitting in front of you next time you fly.
More power to her. I could tell from the video the guy was a dick whether she has a legit complaint or not. 
I’m firmly in the camp of him being in the wrong BUT…
Virtually every airline has separated choosing your seating from the base economy fare. You now pay significantly more to choose a seat in advance.
His actions are unjustified, IMO, but there’s no basis to assume he chose that seat.
Neither is club level first class.
If you’re getting a discount ticket, there’s a chance you win the crappy seat lottery.
Setting aside who’s to blame or whether either person’s response to this incident, it’s quite disheartening to hear the number of people who latch on to the idea of this is clearcut w.r.t. the “choices” these people made (through their willingness or ability to spend the money) on a seat that reclines / doesn’t recline. What absolute libertarian rubbish. As anyone who’s been bumped because of weather, overbooking, or all sorts of other hellish situations where you are just thankful to get a seat somewhere on the plane the same day, to airline interventions where you’re forced to move to accommodate someone / something else (I’ve been on flights where people were asked to move so that the attendants’ luggage could be put on seats), I’m shocked, shocked that anyone could assert that this is a matter of choice.
Welcome to the BBS. I’m sure, with comments like that, you’ll go far here. Everyone seems to be siding with the person who was trying to be a tad more comfortable in a profoundly uncomfortable environment, rather than the manchild who harassed her because he felt like it.
Being petty is not a solely American phenomenon. Humans are a petty species no matter what flag we’re standing under.
OK, so take out this guy’s choice of airline, service level, and seat. Assume he got stuck in one of the worst seats on the plane, completely beyond his control. That sucks, and I sympathize completely with his situation. You know what also sucks, yet is entirely within his control? Acting like a spoiled child by beating his fist on someone else’s seat because he didn’t get his way.
Ahem…
Dear fellow wypipo:
The cops are not customer service.
The FBI is not customer service of the skies.
What if he got the last seat available on the only flight he could get at the last minute?
What if it was the only one he could afford?
It looks to be the worst seat on the plane.
-edited to remove “either.” misplaced.
This is why I prefaced my rant, so this doesn’t add anything really 
“person who was trying to be a tad more comfortable” …and in doing so, making someone less comfortable because they feel like they’ve paid for the right to do so.
I don’t condone his behavior, but “hey, i paid for the right to recline so the hell with anyone who tells me not to” is a poor attitude.
Sure, but pettiness is only one aspect here. As an American, I recognize something peculiarly American in both sides’ unnecessary escalation of conflict due to minor amounts of discomfort. I think we tend to get waaay too upset over just the smallest inconvenience.
Still not an excuse to act as he did.
Again. There is no circumstance to justify how he acted.
This isn’t up for debate. I’m not saying he “deserves” the seat. That seat blows. For anyone. Under any circumstance.
He’s a dick. Period.
Please point out where she decided “to hell with the guy behind me”. I mean, before he started assaulting her. Lots of people ascribing some pretty dire motives to this woman, seemingly because 1) they’ve been in the position of the guy behind her, 2) it was uncomfortable, so 3) obviously the reclining person is a horrible bastard. I assume none of them assaulted the person sitting in front of them. I also assume they’ve been in a situation where they wanted to recline, and therefore made the person behind them somewhat less comfortable. Because they wanted to use the features of the seat they purchased. Yes, what an awful attitude.
Edit: I guess the gist of all my comments is that I thought that we didn’t like blaming the victim here. Which seems to be what many are doing. It’s very weird, and I hope I don’t end up sitting in front of anyone who feels justified doing what this guy did, because reasons.
This. We don’t know why she reclined and she doesn’t owe us her medical history. However, we do know he made a choice in his reaction. He could have called the FA over and explained that he had a problem. He could have asked her to move the seatback and then called the FA if she didn’t.
Instead , he chose to use violence. It’s possible that the FA gave him the drink in the misguided hope of mollifying him and preventing further violence. But it boils down to his choice of actions.
Acting otherwise, saying “well she shouldn’t have reclined” sounds an awful lot like “well, if she’d had dinner ready on time, he wouldn’t have gotten mad.” It’s making her responsible for his choice.
“Please point out where she decided “to hell with the guy behind me”.”
Not her. You. “She bought a seat that reclines, and she reclined it.” As if the decision to do so affects nobody else.
I’m reclining my seat that’s in front of you and if you ask me very politely to put my seat up… My response will be “No”. Don’t like it? Don’t fly.
I noticed this when I started having trouble with Expedia and started to fly Delta directly for a trip that I’ve made 6-7 times recently. By “trouble” I mean that if I had problems with the flight Delta customer service was more effective than Expedia and the plane and crews on the flight I was taking were ultimately Delta’s.
This guy is a jerk, though. If someone in front of you reclines, in any seat but his you can recover some space by reclining yourself. At least a partial solution here is to give the back row a few more inches so they can sit comfortably even if the person in front of them has reclined.
The downside is that those inches have to come from somewhere else.
Exactly. I don’t care what she did. The man child twatwaffle must seek therapy. Can’t wait until his name goes public.
