akyan says:

It cracked me up when the person infront of me glared at in my direction after they could not put their seat back. The reason was that my height meant my knee’s were right up against the back of their seat, where was the back supposed to go.

Any discomfort they were experiencing because they could not put their seat back was nothing compared to mine in that particular flight.

xr says:

I’m not sure whether this would work if the two people in front of you synchronize their efforts. Too short to have any issues with people putting their seats back… the worst thing on a transatlantic flight is winding up in the middle seat between 2 fat people.

Fair Trade says:

I have a feeling you might get questioned if authorities caught you with one of those plastic ties – definitely if they found a few on you – because they can be used as handcuffs and therefore could make you look like a terrorist!

PeterR says:

I recently had one of those flights where my knees were jammed against the seat in front – I couldn’t even fold down my table fully (due to my beer, er, wine gut). Fortunately the person in front didn’t want to recline his seat, which would have made the flight even more intolerable.

I mentioned this to my travel agent the other day when booking a flight to Brussels next week. “Easy answer,” she said. “Call me 2 days before and I’ll get you your boarding cards for seats in the first row.”

smartalix says:

8,

at 6’2″, it’s not my gut, but my knees.

PiperCaptain says:

I understand there isn’t much you can do about height. I am only 6′ 1″ and yes, airplane seats suck, but I just stick my feat under the guy in front of me where they are supposed to go and generally don’t have any problems. Are we supposed to believe these people who are complaining don’t recline their own seats?
They just complain about the person in front of them and sit up on a long flight?

Mr Diesel says:

Let’s see now, interference with the function of part of an aircraft in flight. Sounds like a 5 year stint in federal prison to me and that’s what it should be.

Too f$cking bad if you don’t want someone putting their seat back. It’s called flying and they paid for their ticket same as you.

Dr. Joe says:

There would be no problem if the airlines would stop treating us like cattle and cramming as main seats in as they can. The 25% loss in passengers isn’t completely due to airfares. I can afford the tickets but won’t travel with the stupid security garbage and the terrible treatment the airlines provide.

can of soup says:

I find this procedure to limit others as borderline antisocial. If it is not that, then it is passive-aggressive and a hallmark of a true asshole.

If you are a tall or a fat person, and find the seats in coach too small for your comfort, then pay more for business or 1st class.

If you can not afford that, and if the person in front of you happens to recline, and it affects you adversely, why not introduce yourself and explain that you need more space? Gee whiz, what is wrong with talking to another person?

On my last flight, I reclined my seat. Within ten seconds, the man behind me starting kicking my seat like a child. After about thirty seconds of this, I got up and stood next to him, and introduced myself. I politely asked to stop kicking the seat. He then said he needed more room. I said why didn’t you just ask instead of kicking my seat like an unruly child? This brought lots of stares from the other passengers and he was very embarrassed. I am a short woman, and did not need the room, so I offered to move the seat upright.

He thanked me, and offered to buy me a glass of wine as an apology.

Talk to others folks. Sometimes it works better than being antisocial.