To recline or not to recline? That is the question that so often puzzles travelers. An Australian woman on a recent flight was so confused about the proper etiquette with regards to her seat, she posted her anonymous query in the Women Who Travel Facebook group.
The woman was upset about what had happened and was looking for some support and advice about whether she did the right thing or not. She provided illustrations to inform readers.
The situation happened on a seven-hour overnight flight. She was traveling with a friend who was seated directly in front of her.
Explaining the scenario she wrote: “I sat behind my friend. She’s pregnant. She reclined her seat. Once the lights were dimmed, people started sleeping, I reclined my seat.”
The woman admitted that she wouldn’t normally do that but she needed to so as to gain some more space after her friend had reclined hers. “I kind of had to give myself space,” she said.
She assumed all was well but was obviously aware of the implications of reclining her seat on the passenger behind.
As soon as she did it, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was the woman sitting behind her. The woman asked: “Excuse me, can you not recline your seat? I’m working on my laptop and I can’t open it if you recline your seat.”
“I told her that I had to get some sleep on the flight, which is when she suggested I move to the empty middle seat next to me to sleep.
“The middle seat?” she continued in disbelief in her post. “To sleep? Next to a stranger?”
The Reddit user went on: “She then asked me if I could compromise by not reclining ‘all the way,’ which I did because I was tired of debating with her at this point,” she said. “Who if anyone, is in the right here?”
There have long been issues with chair-reclining on flights and the responses on the Women Who Travel Facebook page were varied. Most, however, agreed that the woman on the laptop was being a little unreasonable, not taking into account the other passenger’s need to sleep.
Women took to the forum to comment with one getting straight to the point: “The seats recline. There’s nothing wrong with you using what the airline has provided for you.”
Another was a little angrier, though many agreed with her: “Person on the laptop could have moved over, it’s not her office space, [s]he was being difficult and entitled.”
Others did not agree: “I never ever recline my seat and I think anyone who reclines their seat is, frankly, a selfish jerk”
While another: “Why are you okay with making someone else uncomfortable?” they raged. “You are taking up their space in a situation where space is already SO limited.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
