Man asks flight attendant to make woman stop reclining seat. AITA?
Flying can be a nightmare. When this man is conflicted on his flight, he takes to the popular Reddit forum to ask:
"AITA for telling the flight attendant to ask the woman in front of me to raise her seat up because it was pressing on my legs?"
I was recently on a long (3+ hour) flight. When we got airborne, the woman in front of me reclined her seat back, pressing them down on my kneecaps. I am a tall person (6'5') and generally don't fit into coach seats easily.
I couldn't even put my tray down. Leaning my seat back doesn't really help. I wrangled myself out of my seat and asked her politely, 'I'm sorry ma'am, but I wonder if I could impose on you and ask to please raise your seat up just a few inches?
I don't have much space back there and with your seat pressing on my kneecaps, neither of us will be very comfortable during this long flight. Thank you.' She just looked at me blankly, said 'No', and closed her eyes.
I walked to the front of the plane and explained my situation to the flight attendant, who went back and spoke to the woman, who then reluctantly raised the seat up a bit. When I got back into my seat, the woman turned around and hissed 'Asshole' at me.
AITA? Should I have just kept my mouth closed and sucked up for the remainder of the flight?
blacktoisealways writes:
YTA. Everyone is coach has paid for the same amount of space. If your 6ft5, presumably you know how tight economy is. You could have booked extra legroom seats in advance, or an aisle seat.
Why should the lady in front of you sit in discomfort as well? She has equally paid for her seat and the right to recline. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but it really annoys me when people on planes think their comfort is more important than the people around them.
You booked a seat knowing you wouldn’t fit in it, and then wanted another person to reduce their available space to make you more comfortable, so I think that makes you TA. If the person in front of her reclines, she has even less room. Often it’s a chain reaction.
leftofleft disagrees:
These kind of comments are so tremendously unhelpful. Of course it’s WiThIn HeR rIgHtS, but the question is whether it’s acceptable etiquette, not if she’s allowed to.
NTA OP — it’s widely accepted that leaning your seat all the way back on an airplane is a d#%k move. Just like it may be “allowed,” you’re also allowed to s&^t on your front porch and wipe it on your windows, but I still wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
andwhiskerkittens writes:
NTA, You asked nicely and she was rude back. I don't think seats on planes should even have this function to be honest.