You paid for the recline space behind you. Actually, if you look at the airline's contract of carriage, you paid a lot of money for, well, basically nothing wh

You paid for the recline space behind you. Actually, if you look at the airline's contract of carriage, you paid a lot of money for, well, basically nothing whatsoever, especially in the US. You really ought to be on your knees offering prayers of thanksgiving for the fact that they let you on the plane at all once they got hold of your money; as to some sort of right to reclining space by virtue of having bought a ticket, well, that's just plain laughable.