Too close for comfort

I have a few pet hates - in fact, the older I get, the more I realise how intolerant I am. Near the top of my list are rudeness and unfairness (injustice would probably be a more intelligent word, but that implies something deep, and my gripes are often quite petty), and these are often inextricably linked. One example of this is queue jumping, which is clearly both rude and unfair - why should anyone think they have the right to push in ahead of other people who have been waiting longer? We've already established I suffer from Queue Rage (see my earlier blog post about queuing in Hong Kong) - well, sadly, I also suffer from Plane Rage. Specifically, I have a problem with reclining.

I appreciate that planes will always cause personal space issues - sitting in close proximity to others in an enclosed environment is never going to end well. Unless you're lucky enough to have a row to yourselves, you'll always have those issues that are unavoidable when you're sitting next to someone else - should I leave the armrest up? Is it okay to put my reading light on? How do I take my cardigan off without smacking my neighbour in the face? What happens if I fall asleep and start leaning towards them or, worse, dribbling on them? And my personal favourite is the toilet issue - just when is it a good time to ask them to move so that you can go to the toilet? What happens if you really need to go when they're asleep or are still eating their dinner? On a recent long-haul flight, I found myself sitting next to a rather odd passenger. She refused all food from the cabin crew and she didn't leave her seat once. On the plus side, as I was in the aisle seat, I didn't have to get up for her. On the downside, she had no awareness of personal space whatsoever - she spread her blanket, cushions and goodness knows what else out across her lap - and some of my lap too. She also didn't think about me when removing her jacket, resulting in a sleeve in my mouth. And don't get me started about the incessant leg-tapping for the entire hour before landing. Still, I'll let her off - she was obviously nervous (is that what sitting next to me does to people?). And, on the whole, despite the general inconvenience, most awkward situations can be avoided with a little consideration for the people around you.

So why is it that some people seem incapable of consideration when it comes to reclining their seats? Maybe it's because it affects the people behind you and you can pretend you don't know about it. But it does affect them and, if you have a particularly inconsiderate person in front, it can ruin the whole journey. Anyone who's ever been on a plane knows just how little room there is between your knees and the seat in front - especially on a short-haul flight. The minute that seat in front reclines, you have even less. Your knees are pressed up against the back of the chair, it's hard to watch the television (assuming you have a seat-back TV), there's no room on your tray and don't get me started about attempting to eat. Now, I appreciate that on a night flight or a long-haul flight, people like to sleep. I'm a bit unusual in this respect, as I can't sleep on planes, but I wouldn't deny anyone else. When the cabin crew dim the lights and everyone around you is snoring - yes, this is the time to recline your seat. Yes, it's annoying for me, while I sit there wide awake - but, to use a phrase I learnt in Australia, I just have to suck it up. Plus, if the person behind me is also reclined, I'll recline myself and get comfy. But if all the lights are on and it's daytime - especially if it's a short-haul flight - no way!!! How can people not understand that reclining their seat affects the person behind them? Surely it's selfish to recline your seat just so you can have more room to get comfy and watch TV, while the person behind you suddenly has even less room than they had before, and has to put their head on its side to be able to watch the TV properly. Of course, they could always recline themselves to redress the balance - but then the person behind them would have to recline and so on. I don't help myself in this situation, because I refuse to recline my chair unless the person behind me is asleep or reclined (preferably both) - so I end up squashed, uncomfortable and seething with resentment.

On a recent daytime flight to Tenerife, we were sat behind a foreign family who didn't speak much English. No sooner had they sat down than the grandad had reclined his chair to the maximum level. Now, nothing about the family's demeanour suggested they hadn't flown before - but surely anyone who's been on a plane knows that 'seats should be in the upright position for take-off'? For once, I wasn't too worried, as I knew the cabin crew would soon tell him to put it back up. Then, just as I was putting something in the seat pocket, the grandma in the chair in front also reclined. I couldn't help it - it took me by surprise and squashed my hand - I cried out. The grandad immediately turned round. 'Is okay?' he asked. What I really wanted to say was 'No, it's bloody not okay. It's selfish and inconsiderate and you've left me with no room. Please put your seats back up.' However, being British, I just couldn't do that. I resorted to smiling politely and pointing out that the cabin crew would ask them to put the seats back up for take-off anyway. 'Ah,' he said and they put the chairs back up. I breathed a sigh of relief. But no sooner had the plane left the ground (and while the cabin crew were still seated) than both seats reclined again. So did the mum's. And the dad's across the aisle. They stayed that way for the whole journey. What made it worse was that the plane wasn't full, and the two seats next to the dad were empty, so the family did a lot of seat-swapping. Which meant that, for large amounts of the journey, there were empty reclined seats in front of us while we struggled to eat from what little of the tray was accessible.

Pure selfishness is what it is. Rude, thoughtless and clearly not fair on the people behind. Why can't they introduce a reclining rule so that it's only allowed at certain times on certain flights - and outright banned during mealtimes? Or, better still, get rid of the reclining feature altogether so everyone can sit there wide awake like me?! Grrrrrrrrrr! Anyway. Rant over. Time to go and watch TV from my reclining sofa - knowing there's no one behind to get squashed.