Ever had this happen on a plane?

[inkkognito]

I found this incident weird...anyone else ever have it happen?
We were moved from our original seats (but that's another story) into a middle and window seat farther back in the plane on our Orlando trip. The plane was jam-packed full. My husband and I were conversing right after take-off, and the person in front of him reclined her seat. No biggie, although the tight quarters put her pretty close to being in his lap. This is the weird part: She then said, "Be quiet. You're talking too loud!" I pointed out that I am not aware of any restrictions on conversation in an aircraft and she said it was bothering her. I said that her reclined seat was bothering us, but we weren't complaining about that. She then proceeded to bounce in her chair literally for the whole flight! I don't think she ever stopped for more than a few minutes at a time. There was nowhere we could move, so we just pretended we were watching an episode of "Airline." Unfortunately, it made it difficult for my poor husband to watch his DVD or drink his beverage. Oh well, I guess it takes all kinds.
Barb

 

[KathyTX]

Makes you wish you had Knee Defenders handy. Have you seen these? They're little plastic blocks you can use to prevent the seat in front of you from reclining.

I've spent lots of flights feeling like the passenger in front of me was sitting in my lap. I wish that they'd make airline seats just not recline at all.

I've yet to see someone display quite the chutzpah of your flightmate, though! She seems to have a pretty interesting view of her place in the world.

 

[inkkognito]

Yes, she was a strange duck! I guess with as much as we fly, it's not surprising that we run into the weird ones now and then. I think we've going to invest in those knee defenders for hubby just in case! Thankfully, I have very short legs.
The strange thing is, after I pointed out that A) I wasn't going to stop talking; and B) If we were bothering her, she was also bothering us, she never said a word to us again. I wonder if she isn't used to people standing up to her and didn't know what to say to someone who doesn't back down. I was hoping she would maybe complain to the flight attendant: "Uh, excuse me, the people in front of me are TALKING." God help her if she ever sits near a screaming baby! The part I couldn't believe was that she kept jumping and slamming in her seat. She even kept it up after she was forced to raise the seat back for landing! That had to get tiring after a while, not to mention annoying for the people on either side of her (one appeared to be her husband, but I think the other was a stranger...or else was just too embarrassed for others to think they were actually family or friends).
Barb

 

[safetymom]

That's a new one.

I had something happen on my flight last week that I had never seen before. One lady started hitting another lady after she almost reached the plane door. She was yelling and screaming saying the lady had been bumping her walking up the aisle. The flight attendant had to pull the lady off the other one.

 

[my3kids]

LOL! What an idiot. Sounds like she feels like she deserves first class treatment but has the wallet to have have to travel with the crowded masses. That slamming had to be annoying. Oh, ooops, your seat jumping made me spill my cranberry juice....all over your hair. Whoops.!

 

[CarolA]

Barb,
I would not buy the Knee Defenders. The airlines HATE them and rumor has it that some of them have forbidden their use. (My trick is well placed knee. I can pretty much prevent you from pushing your seat too far back LOL!)

It takes all kinds on the airplanes. Tell you hubby next time to start kicking the seat when she bounces.

For some reason as I am sure you have noticed, travel today brings out the worst in some people. (OF course I do have to confess that I wanted to SLUG the TSA in Atlanta last night, the rudest people in the USA. WHY on a Friday night do you only open a quarter of the lines for security? WHY did you yell at us to put things in those bins when ALL of them were on the other side of the screening machines?

 

[Disney Ella]

Had this woman never been on a plane before? I've considered making extra money by giving a scalp massage to the person in front of me since they're so close anyway. It's unrealistic to expect people not to talk and you are going to hear them when they're practically in your lap. I guess there were no empty seats you could move to?

 

[seashoreCM]

After making every reasonable effort to resolve any problem, push the flight attendant call button (or get up and get a flight attendant to come over).

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[PoohBear]

I'm sure I had her husband on a flight before.

When my son was 10 months old, I was on a flight sitting next to him. It was at night, most of the plane was trying to sleep (except of course, my son). He kept kicking the seat in front of him non-stop. I knew this was annoying the man sitting there (who wouldn't it annoy). I tried to pin his legs down with my arm but then he would scream non-stop at the top of his lungs. The FA would not let me take him out of his car seat or move it because we were in rough weather. I apologized over and over but the man would not acknowledge me. Finally, I stood up and asked him if he would like to change seats with me and then my son could kick me the entire flight. I didn't know what else to do. He had never behaved that way ever or since and nothing would distract him from it. When I asked him, he started screaming at me that I was not "allowed" to talk to him. He then switched his light on and off the entire flight while reclining his seat up and down over and over again. I guess this was supposed to annoy us but my son thought it was funny so he only did it more. When we got off the plane the FA's were laughing, they told us it was karma. Apparently, before we boarded they had asked the people in his row if they would relocate so that our family could sit together (It was apparently the only row on the plane where they were all traveling alone). Everyone in the row agreed except this guy, he was screaming at the FA's before we ever boarded. So maybe it is karma.

 

[inkkognito]

No empty seats...the flight was like a cattle car! And it was an older plane that ATA had just purchased from another airline, so it didn't have the cushy leather seats and nice entertainment system (although goodness knows the live entertainment was enough). I would have called the flight attendant, but I figured there wasn't much she could do ("Uh, ma'm, could you please stop acting like a juvenile horse's backside?").
It seemed like the nutcase was seeking attention, so after a couple of comments amongst ourselves, we decided to just ignore her. At least with fidgeting kids, you can understand it...this "adult" acted worse than any child I have ever run across, and I fly a LOT! I'm beginning to think hubby should definitely have had an "accidental" spill.
Barb

 

[NotUrsula]

The woman you encountered was a "seat-breaker". I've seen them before, mostly in coach on transatlantic flights. The recline mechanism on the seats *can* be broken so that the seat will recline even further than it is set to do, and guess how you do it? Yep, continually slamming your weight against the seat back. (It's a gear mechanism with a stop on it, if you wear against it enough with weight in it, the stop will evenutually slip.)

On transatlantic flights, breakers are usually people who are angry about not getting an upgrade into business class. On shorter flights, the most common thing I've seen that will trigger them is complaining about how far they have reclined their seats. Some people just do it because they are very tall and uncomfortable, and they are desperate to get access to every possible inch of space they can push into. I had a breaker in front of me on my last BA flight from London to Chicago. I was in a middle seat. I finally had to get the FA to force him to put the seat up during meals; b/c I could not eat my food due to the constant bouncing and the fact that the tray table was jamming into my chest. He was so far back that the only way I was able to get out of the seat to use the restroom was to have DH get up so that I could put up both armrests and slide across the seats into the aisle.

The seat-recline thing has a huge entitlement vs. courtesy debate swirling around it; I know travel forums where it is actually a forbidden topic, b/c it sets off so many flame wars. Other than the Knee Defender, the most common defensive weapon against a breaker is the A/C vent nozzle. When someone has reclined so far as to intrude well into your space, you can turn the nozzle to full open and direct it onto the person's head. This is ineffective for some tall male breakers, though, they will just reach all the way up and back to turn it off!
There are also people who will deliberately snort a bit of pepper in order to sneeze on the heads of people who are reclined into their laps.

 

[deanio101]

i hate people like that, on my way to orlando 2 ladys wanted to go to sleep. i didnt mind that cause they must of woke up really early. but when are dinner arrived i expected themt o put there seats back up. but they didnt and while we were eating we was totally cramped. so we hinted things out and they still didnt do anything. because are seats were 3 of are family sit near the plane door in the middle. and the other 2 sat 1 row ahead of us. my mum swapped seats with my sister and she put her seat back to annoy them!

 

[my3kids]

Snorting pepper! Too funny. I have a little boy who would love to be the designating sneezer for the enire plane. We could hire him out for candy bars to annoy the seat breakers in front of someone.

 

[jenlovesdisney]

There are also people who will deliberately snort a bit of pepper in order to sneeze on the heads of people who are reclined into their laps. [/B][/QUOTE]

 

[Harambe]

The world is just too weird for me sometimes.

On our return trip, there was a woman standing in my row. I politely motioned to her that that was my seat and she yelled at me! "I'm trying to get back but you just come right in the aisle!" I know a loony when I see one, so I just stared her down until she went away.

I try to remind myself that a lot of folks are nervous about flying, and may behave badly. Thank goodness for the flight attendants and their wine cart!

 

[inkkognito]

Amen to the wine cart!
We had a very smart captain once. There was a significant weather delay (fog), and people could not get off the plane because when there was a break, you either could leave immediately or get back at the end of the "take-off queue." So we all had to sit and wait a loooong time. Once we were airborne, the captain announced that the first drink for all adults was on him! It served the dual purpose of making people happy they were getting something free and then making them happier after they had consumed the drink.
I LOVE the air nozzle and pepper ideas! I tend to keep the air nozzle wide open anyway, as I am a nervous flyer, and for some reason being blasted with cold air seems to calm me (makes no sense, I know). Normally we avoid the whole issue because we do web check and take exit row seats where we know the seats in front of us are not able to recline. It's hilarious to see the antics that the people in front of us do to try to FORCE a recline, even when the flight attendant tells them it won't work.
We fly roundtrip to Orlando at least twice a month, so I'm going to start bringing a video camera so I can start my own airline reality show to compete with "Airline."
Barb

 

[Wiggle]

On a short flight (thank goodness) a few months ago, the woman sitting next to me struck up conversation, and it turned out we were from the same town. She was quite a bit older than me. We asked each other "Do you know...", "Did you ever go to....", etc. Turns out she thinks she knows who my uncle is (yeah, right). She and he would be about the same age. She explained in VERY colorful language that she had been divorced a few years ago, loved to party, enjoyed her freedom, and was extremely, er, well, let's just say it had been a long time. She proceeded to give me her card to pass along to my uncle so that they could, er, you know.

This is a family channel. I must stop here.

 

[Lucky4me]

One time we sat behind "Little Jimmy" Little Jimmy was about 8 years old, but was the size of a linebacker. Little Jimmy did not like flying or much of anything really. Little Jimmy was a seat breaker, a loud talker, a whiner and general pain in the neck. The reason I remember Little Jimmy is his Mother said his name 468 times (yes we counted) in a two and a half hour flight. "Now little Jimmy, say you're sorry for dropping your suitcase on the heads of these nice people!" "Now Little Jimmy, you KNOW it's impolite to belch and pass gas in public." Now little Jimmy, Mommy doesn't WANT you on her lap right now." "Little Jimmy, stop trying to rip that table off the seat right -now!" "No little Jimmy, you can't have 6 bags of pretzels." Honest to God this didn't stop once. We also knew where little Jimmy got his loud talking gene from.

While on that vacation, anyone who was being a pain was called little Jimmy....

 

[princess pooh]

Originally posted by Lucky4me
While on that vacation, anyone who was being a pain was called little Jimmy....

I had a similar experience with Little Matthew, or as his parents called him Maaaatheeeew (in the whiniest voice possible). This kid wasn't so bad but it was his parents who were annoying. the poor kid was just sitting watching a movie but they were complaining about him every 5 seconds! I called dbf that night to tell him that none of our future child were going to be named Matthew. I've heard enough of that name for a lifetime!

 

[inkkognito]

We just got off the homebound segment of the trip, and that woman would have been ballistic if she was sitting anywhere near us this time around. We had a group of people who had apparently just gotten off a cruise on both sides of the plane behind us, and they were talking quite loudly about their experiences throughout the trip. A couple of rows in front of us was the requisite screaming baby. I always thought that was just part of the joy of flying (that's why hubby and I bring CD players, a DVD player, and headphones). But after the outbound experience, I was wondering if I should tell them all to be quiet! How dare they talk on a plane! Or maybe slamming the poor people behind me with my seat a few times would have shut them up about the cruise. (Actually I didn't recline at all because they were all on the large side, and I felt sorry for them...I was in an exit row with good legroom, so it would have been cruel to lie down in their laps).
Barb