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I can't believe so many people see reclining as rude, it's the design of the seats. If the person in front of you reclines, recline your own seat. This produc

by watty 11y ago

I can't believe so many people see reclining as rude, it's the design of the seats. If the person in front of you reclines, recline your own seat. This product is like covering up your neighbors reading light because it bothers you. It's not yours to turn on/off. Lack of space is part of air travel, if you can't fit your laptop on a tray that is reclined then pay for first class or get a smaller laptop.

DrJokepu 11y ago
By reclining your seat all the way back you're forcing the person behind you to recline his seat all the way back, which in turn forces the person behind the person behind you to recline his seat an so on, it's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like reclining more than halfway through is only fair if there's nobody sitting behind you or if that person had already reclined his seat. I don't think these are strict rules or anything, you are certainly entitled to do whatever you wish, it's really just a question of politeness.
- gusmd 11y ago
  Now if you don't recline, you force the person in front of you not to recline, and the person in front on him, and so on. It's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like not reclining is only fair is there's nobody sitting in front of you or if that person has already not reclined their seat.
  - DrJokepu 11y ago
    Actively is the keyword here. Not reclining is the passive, default thing to do, because during takeoff you can't recline your seat anyway. If you had to recline your seat all the way back during takeoff, your argument would be valid.
    - gusmd 11y ago
      My interpretation is that deciding not to recline is a conscious, active move on your part.
      - notahacker 11y ago
        Especially when you go to the trouble of buying a Knee Defender to limit the movement of the person in front...
      - DrJokepu 11y ago
        Most of the time I don't recline my seat at all because I simply forget that it's a thing I can do, especially if the person in front of me doesn't recline his seat enough that I notice it.
- notahacker 11y ago
  Airlines enforced their preferences on everybody else when they decided - at the cost of some very expensive additional weight - that seats can and should be able to recline. If they didn't intend for customers to recline the seats it's perfectly possible to install or modify seats to make reclining impossible (some do) or to instruct people not to recline seats at certain times it might be inappropriate (all do). They also designed seats so it wasn't wholly impossible to sit behind a reclined seat (or indeed climb out of the seat) without reclining. So the people forcing their preferences are the ones insisting they have the right to restrict the inclination of the seat in front. Sure, out of politeness I might refrain from using the intended functionality of the seat if you ask nicely (same goes for switching off the light or redirecting the airflow nozzle, and I might choose to delay my toilet break to avoid disturbing your sleep). My sense of politeness tends to go out the window when people start suggesting its selfish or impolite for me not to coordinate my cabin controls to their liking.
  - DrJokepu 11y ago
    Yes I mostly agree with that, even though I don't normally recline my seat if someone behind me used a Knee Defender I'd definitely complain about it, just out of spite as it's also not a very polite thing to do.
patcheudor 11y ago
Thank you! You pay for the seat, the space under the seat ahead of you, and the ability to recline. All of that space is rightfully yours. Everyone else on the flight pays for the same and is rightfully theirs. People who don't understand that need to re-evaluate why they are flying. Blocking someone from reclining, in my book at least is a sociopathic move. There is worse behavior on planes of course. I was once on a flight where I put my backpack under the seat ahead of me and the woman sitting in that seat started kicking it. I firmly pointed out to her that there was a laptop and camera in the bag and that she needed to stop. She informed me that the space under her seat was hers and that I needed to move my bag. The dispute finally ended when she hit the call button and the attending flight attendant eventually had to have her removed from the plane.
- M8 11y ago
  They used to allow smoking on board you know. What were non-smokers paying for? The tyranny of reclining should be stopped.
  - ForHackernews 11y ago
    > They used to allow smoking on board you know. What were non-smokers paying for? A flight on a plane with smoke in the air.
dragonwriter 11y ago
Reclining doesn't protect your knees, though it may provide additional space for your upper body. The fact that the design of the seat permits you to use it as a device to commit tortious battery on the person behind you doesn't make it okay to use it for that purpose.
- M8 11y ago
  Exactly. There are ashtrays on some older planes, does it mean it's OK to smoke?
- maxerickson 11y ago
  Are there many successful suits based on people causing contact by reclining seats, or are you just using legal jargon to add weight to your opinion?
wink 11y ago
I could rephrase your post as: "I can't believe so many people see honking in your car as rude, it's the design of the car. If the person in front of you honks, just join in for a nice hullabaloo." It's usually not that you can opt out of this. Would be cool though: left aisle: no reclining seats, right aisle: reclining seats. :)
- loco5niner 11y ago
  The problem with your honking analogy is there is a right way and a wrong way to honk. Saying "never honk" is certainly incorrect.
tzs 11y ago
> I can't believe so many people see reclining as rude, it's the design of the seats. If the person in front of you reclines, recline your own seat. That the seat is designed to work in different positions has little to do with whether or not it is rude to use some of those positions. Rudeness is in general situational. An action that is fine under some circumstances can be rude in other circumstances. For example, my home theater is designed to make very loud sounds. Are you going to argue that this means it can never by rude of me to listen at top volume? My digestive system is designed to expel noxious gases. Do you think that justifies farting in crowded elevators?
PretzelPirate 11y ago
It doesn't both me when people recline their seats, but I do wish there was a more reasonable limit on how fast people can recline. The number of times I see people slamming their seats back and almost breaking someone's laptop is ridiculous.
- loco5niner 11y ago
  Interesting. I rarely fly and truly wasn't aware this was an issue. I'll be sure to take it slow from here on out. :-)

by watty 11y ago

DrJokepu 11y ago

By reclining your seat all the way back you're forcing the person behind you to recline his seat all the way back, which in turn forces the person behind the person behind you to recline his seat an so on, it's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like reclining more than halfway through is only fair if there's nobody sitting behind you or if that person had already reclined his seat. I don't think these are strict rules or anything, you are certainly entitled to do whatever you wish, it's really just a question of politeness.

gusmd 11y ago
Now if you don't recline, you force the person in front of you not to recline, and the person in front on him, and so on. It's just not a very mindful thing to do because you're actively forcing your preferences on everyone else. I feel like not reclining is only fair is there's nobody sitting in front of you or if that person has already not reclined their seat.
- DrJokepu 11y ago
  Actively is the keyword here. Not reclining is the passive, default thing to do, because during takeoff you can't recline your seat anyway. If you had to recline your seat all the way back during takeoff, your argument would be valid.
  - gusmd 11y ago
    My interpretation is that deciding not to recline is a conscious, active move on your part.
    - notahacker 11y ago
      Especially when you go to the trouble of buying a Knee Defender to limit the movement of the person in front...
    - DrJokepu 11y ago
      Most of the time I don't recline my seat at all because I simply forget that it's a thing I can do, especially if the person in front of me doesn't recline his seat enough that I notice it.
notahacker 11y ago
Airlines enforced their preferences on everybody else when they decided - at the cost of some very expensive additional weight - that seats can and should be able to recline. If they didn't intend for customers to recline the seats it's perfectly possible to install or modify seats to make reclining impossible (some do) or to instruct people not to recline seats at certain times it might be inappropriate (all do). They also designed seats so it wasn't wholly impossible to sit behind a reclined seat (or indeed climb out of the seat) without reclining. So the people forcing their preferences are the ones insisting they have the right to restrict the inclination of the seat in front. Sure, out of politeness I might refrain from using the intended functionality of the seat if you ask nicely (same goes for switching off the light or redirecting the airflow nozzle, and I might choose to delay my toilet break to avoid disturbing your sleep). My sense of politeness tends to go out the window when people start suggesting its selfish or impolite for me not to coordinate my cabin controls to their liking.
- DrJokepu 11y ago
  Yes I mostly agree with that, even though I don't normally recline my seat if someone behind me used a Knee Defender I'd definitely complain about it, just out of spite as it's also not a very polite thing to do.

patcheudor 11y ago

Thank you! You pay for the seat, the space under the seat ahead of you, and the ability to recline. All of that space is rightfully yours. Everyone else on the flight pays for the same and is rightfully theirs. People who don't understand that need to re-evaluate why they are flying. Blocking someone from reclining, in my book at least is a sociopathic move. There is worse behavior on planes of course. I was once on a flight where I put my backpack under the seat ahead of me and the woman sitting in that seat started kicking it. I firmly pointed out to her that there was a laptop and camera in the bag and that she needed to stop. She informed me that the space under her seat was hers and that I needed to move my bag. The dispute finally ended when she hit the call button and the attending flight attendant eventually had to have her removed from the plane.

M8 11y ago
They used to allow smoking on board you know. What were non-smokers paying for? The tyranny of reclining should be stopped.
- ForHackernews 11y ago
  > They used to allow smoking on board you know. What were non-smokers paying for? A flight on a plane with smoke in the air.

dragonwriter 11y ago

Reclining doesn't protect your knees, though it may provide additional space for your upper body. The fact that the design of the seat permits you to use it as a device to commit tortious battery on the person behind you doesn't make it okay to use it for that purpose.

M8 11y ago
Exactly. There are ashtrays on some older planes, does it mean it's OK to smoke?
maxerickson 11y ago
Are there many successful suits based on people causing contact by reclining seats, or are you just using legal jargon to add weight to your opinion?

wink 11y ago

I could rephrase your post as: "I can't believe so many people see honking in your car as rude, it's the design of the car. If the person in front of you honks, just join in for a nice hullabaloo." It's usually not that you can opt out of this. Would be cool though: left aisle: no reclining seats, right aisle: reclining seats. :)

loco5niner 11y ago
The problem with your honking analogy is there is a right way and a wrong way to honk. Saying "never honk" is certainly incorrect.

tzs 11y ago

> I can't believe so many people see reclining as rude, it's the design of the seats. If the person in front of you reclines, recline your own seat. That the seat is designed to work in different positions has little to do with whether or not it is rude to use some of those positions. Rudeness is in general situational. An action that is fine under some circumstances can be rude in other circumstances. For example, my home theater is designed to make very loud sounds. Are you going to argue that this means it can never by rude of me to listen at top volume? My digestive system is designed to expel noxious gases. Do you think that justifies farting in crowded elevators?

PretzelPirate 11y ago

It doesn't both me when people recline their seats, but I do wish there was a more reasonable limit on how fast people can recline. The number of times I see people slamming their seats back and almost breaking someone's laptop is ridiculous.

loco5niner 11y ago
Interesting. I rarely fly and truly wasn't aware this was an issue. I'll be sure to take it slow from here on out. :-)