@daveinwarsh The problem is they’ve made the seat so small now that if the seat in front is reclined, the tray table isn’t usable for a tablet or book. If the seat’s fully reclined sometimes even a beverage won’t fit on the tray table. I had someone abruptly recline all the way back one flight, knocking over my drink and throwing my tablet on the floor where I couldn’t reach it with them laying in my lap. I was seriously tempted to prop my book on top of their head.
@daveinwarsh@moondrake I only ever fly on the cheapest thing I can find. I wonder if there are “nicer” seats someplace that have more than about 1-2 inches of movement at the top. I could see that being obnoxious.
The planes I’ve been on, a reclined seat is marginally more comfortable, probably the slight difference is critical for napping, but I don’t think it has a meaningful impact on the tray table of the person behind you.
@daveinwarsh@InnocuousFarmer@moondrake I think it’s closer to three or four inches, not that I’ve measured.
I’ve never had a drink knocked over or anything, but it definitely makes a big difference on my ability to use a laptop or prop a book on the tray. I find it pretty annoying, and I never recline my seat for this reason.
@daveinwarsh@Limewater@moondrake I’ve had people “fully” recline in front of me a few times while I had coffee and a book, and not noticed a big difference. I’ve had a laptop out in that situation, but only an 11" or so. More than that probably wouldn’t work. Dunno.
It is a fairly absurd game theory kind of situation, especially with subjectivity mixed in. I don’t think I could begrudge someone being marginally more comfortable in that scenario, but then I don’t value computer use very much in those times.
… I wonder if they’d let me carry a tape measure on a plane.
@daveinwarsh I’m exactly the same. I’m tall and chairs aren’t made for people my height. The curves are in all the wrong places. I can last taxi and take of without reclining. If i go much longer than that, i start getting back pain.
@moondrake I usually fly Alaska Airlines, sometimes Delta or American. So far, having the seat in front of me reclining has made no difference to my tray table.
Maybe other airlines are different???
If I don’t recline my seat, my back will be killing me within 30 min.
**** I guess I’m the guy people hate to sit next to…****
1 - Everyone enters the plane in seat # order, handicapped/elderly last.
2 - bunks, not seats.
3 - Gates at Dallas/Fort Worth airport to be redesignated D,F,W, and A (that’s really only changing two gate designations!)
@aetris@narfcake I’ve never understood the big rush to get on the plane. I fly Southwest, which doesn’t have reserved seating, so I try to get on ASAP to get my aisle seat. But when I fly with reserved seating I wait till last. I’m in no rush to get in that cramped seat with limited bathroom access.
@moondrake - The big rush is to cram that grand-piano-size carry-on into the overhead compartment before all the storage space disappears. After all, how can you justify standing in the aisle blocking everyone at the end of the flight unless your 5000-lb bag takes 15 minutes to twist out of the overhead?
@narfcake - Please, it’ll be standing room only in a couple years. Saddles will cost extra. I envision an airport kiosk doing a brisk trade in shooting sticks…
Slow people are the bane of my existance in every facet of life… Correction. Inconsiderate slow people. If you’re slow, do it in a way that doesn’t bother other people. A good rule for slow people is stay at the edge of any place you are. Right lane on the freeway. Next to the building on the sidewalk. Just because you want to waste your life away being slow doesn’t mean other people need to as well.
@macromeh When I used to walk with Simba, I was surprised at how few people noticed a 165lb carnivore coming up on them till we were within arm’s reach.
@RedOak These are the people that really just annoy me. I usually take x-stitching with me. I’m REALLY bad with my aim, so if their feet are in my space it’s really their own fault if the needle hits it.
The person who has the stinkiest food imaginable with them. Or the person who is the stinkiest person imaginable. Both always sit within smelling distance of me. Every. Time.
One of the more pleasant flights was when the flight attendant asked me if I wanted to move due to a care-dog in training sitting on the floor in our row… I didn’t… and that was the mellowest dog I’ve ever seen. Didn’t even lift his head from the floor for takeoff or landing.
BABIES
Get to my seat and prepare for my long international flight. I’m very excited about my trip BUT as soon as I get comfortable a lady walks onto the plane with newborn twins …”please don’t sit in my section,” she gets closer “crap please don’t sit next to me,” she sits next to me
The person who was in the seat next to me with a dog so stinky I had to stop myself from gagging the whole 4 hour flight. It actually made my throat hurt. Please bathe your dogs before flying with them.
I fly semi-frequently w/ my tot…and for the most part she’s pretty good…that being said…southwest allows us to board fairly early and at least I can move as far back as possible and ppl get warning that I have a kid and therefore can CHOSE to not sit next to me…which I am fine w/ as well…more often than not I get an empty seat next to me…space doesn’t hurt my feelings
Anyone who reclines their seat. Yup that’s my knees you are hitting.
Parents not even trying to get their kid to stop crying. No I am not making silly faces at your 1 year old to amuse them I am trying to get the to move their jaw in a way that will release the pressure on their ears and make them stop crying.
400 lb. 6 ft 5 guy who needs a belt extension and picked a middle seat. You are in my space too.This is mean but if you need a belt extension you should be required to pay for the larger seats in business or 1st class.
The loud person who decides to sit behind me and hold a conversation with their neighbor for the duration of the flight. This happened to me last week and the guy was very LOUD. He laughed out loud several times and basically talked the whole time. I think he might have had mental issues because he really did not have a filter. It is one thing to talk to your neighbor quietly, but it is a completely different thing to have a long drawn out conversation with a complete stranger in which you are talking to that person in a voice in which people can hear you 4 to 5 rows ahead and behind you.
Also, annoying was the lady who asked me to switch seats with her so that her kids could sit together, only she lied about the location of the seat. First, she said her seat was one row ahead then she said two rows ahead. Well, actually it wasn’t that bad because I ended up not sitting next to Chatty Charlie and she did!!!
I’ve never flown commercially, so I have NO idea, but in a prop plane it’d have to be the pilot who thinks everyone doesn’t care if they die on that flight and flies like a Grand Theft Auto pursuit suspect.
@abamon81 I am that person. And I not only choose the aisle seat, I choose it at the back near the bathroom so I don’t have to disturb so many people going by.
The couple who have 5 or 6 carry on bags and get on early because their seats are all the way in the back, and put all their bags in the overhead in the first two rows, which include my seat. And now I have no place for my bag.
@olperfesser I don’t get that. I value the things in my carry-on way too much to have them out of my sight. But then about half the time when I’m traveling I’m going to an art show, and my carry-on is full of my art. Which makes me grateful for tall healthy young men who kindly volunteer to lift my bag full of heavy bronze jewelry into the overhead. One nice thing about living in the south, that kind of reflexive politeness is quite common.
@medz Why? Does it mean he’s going to stay there a long time? We used to joke about one of our travelling companions, “How long is Bob going to be in the hotel bathroom?” “He took a book, you’d better go down to the lobby.”
Top 5 (in no particular order… unless they meet all of these… seen it once!)
Anyone with a “comfort” pet, particularly ones that either gets let them out of the cages or that bark/howl/meow the whole time.
People who insist on turning on and off their light all night on overnight flights.
Anyone who stands in the walkway of the terminal waiting in line to board three (or more) groups before their group is actually called to board
“Life story tellers”… I don’t want to know all your medical/personal/emotional issues
Small/frail people sitting in the window seats of exit row who can’t even heft their own carry-on into the overhead (Before you can occupy exit row seat, you should be required to demonstrate ability to lift 40-50 lb exit window)
Mr/Mrs ‘What’s a shower’ or ‘Cologne/perfume/Axe counts a a bath, right?’
I’ve never flown, so…
@PlacidPenguin That makes sense.
My reply is no
/8ball Can penguins fly?
@narfcake
Exactly.
I have never flown before, so I don’t know.
The guy/gal who has squishy parts that do not fit within the confines of his/her seat, and which thus impinge upon my parts…
@shahnm I try to hold it in, realy I do
The TSA
superman
The parent who acts like their kid is perfectly well-behaved, in spite of the combo of screaming and kicking your chair back.
…and gets huffy when you turn around and ask the little monster to please stop kicking your seat.
The person who brings multiple bags and puts all of them in the overhead bin instead of putting one bag underneath the seat in front of them.
All the other people.
I should be able to have it all to myself until I am done.
@2many2no Apparently, we are of the same mind.
The TSA that strip searches you. Or wait, is that a part if the fun?
@jst1ofknd Number of terrorists caught to date: ZERO.
@davido @jst1ofknd - Civil rights violated to date - pretty much all of them!
@narfcake - Man, I was going to say William Shatner!
Anyone sitting next to me.
Especially, the person on a phone.
I don’t feel guilty for reclining my seat.
My back aches if I don’t & the person behind me should recline also.
@daveinwarsh The problem is they’ve made the seat so small now that if the seat in front is reclined, the tray table isn’t usable for a tablet or book. If the seat’s fully reclined sometimes even a beverage won’t fit on the tray table. I had someone abruptly recline all the way back one flight, knocking over my drink and throwing my tablet on the floor where I couldn’t reach it with them laying in my lap. I was seriously tempted to prop my book on top of their head.
@daveinwarsh @moondrake I only ever fly on the cheapest thing I can find. I wonder if there are “nicer” seats someplace that have more than about 1-2 inches of movement at the top. I could see that being obnoxious.
The planes I’ve been on, a reclined seat is marginally more comfortable, probably the slight difference is critical for napping, but I don’t think it has a meaningful impact on the tray table of the person behind you.
@daveinwarsh @InnocuousFarmer @moondrake I think it’s closer to three or four inches, not that I’ve measured.
I’ve never had a drink knocked over or anything, but it definitely makes a big difference on my ability to use a laptop or prop a book on the tray. I find it pretty annoying, and I never recline my seat for this reason.
@daveinwarsh @Limewater @moondrake I’ve had people “fully” recline in front of me a few times while I had coffee and a book, and not noticed a big difference. I’ve had a laptop out in that situation, but only an 11" or so. More than that probably wouldn’t work. Dunno.
It is a fairly absurd game theory kind of situation, especially with subjectivity mixed in. I don’t think I could begrudge someone being marginally more comfortable in that scenario, but then I don’t value computer use very much in those times.
… I wonder if they’d let me carry a tape measure on a plane.
@daveinwarsh I’m exactly the same. I’m tall and chairs aren’t made for people my height. The curves are in all the wrong places. I can last taxi and take of without reclining. If i go much longer than that, i start getting back pain.
@moondrake I usually fly Alaska Airlines, sometimes Delta or American. So far, having the seat in front of me reclining has made no difference to my tray table.
Maybe other airlines are different???
If I don’t recline my seat, my back will be killing me within 30 min.
**** I guess I’m the guy people hate to sit next to…****
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/airplane_layout
@narfcake The only thing he missed is the baggage compartment seating for excessively loud, malodorous people.
@narfcake Does that mean the flight boarding personel would be more feared than the TSA(if they designated the seating)?
@narfcake - A couple dream features of my own:
1 - Everyone enters the plane in seat # order, handicapped/elderly last.
2 - bunks, not seats.
3 - Gates at Dallas/Fort Worth airport to be redesignated D,F,W, and A (that’s really only changing two gate designations!)
@aetris Bunks? Ha! Try stand-up saddles!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.fastcompany.com/90168628/the-airplane-saddle-is-a-standing-seat-for-super-economy-flight
@aetris @narfcake I’ve never understood the big rush to get on the plane. I fly Southwest, which doesn’t have reserved seating, so I try to get on ASAP to get my aisle seat. But when I fly with reserved seating I wait till last. I’m in no rush to get in that cramped seat with limited bathroom access.
@moondrake - The big rush is to cram that grand-piano-size carry-on into the overhead compartment before all the storage space disappears. After all, how can you justify standing in the aisle blocking everyone at the end of the flight unless your 5000-lb bag takes 15 minutes to twist out of the overhead?
@narfcake - Please, it’ll be standing room only in a couple years. Saddles will cost extra. I envision an airport kiosk doing a brisk trade in shooting sticks…
Slow people are the bane of my existance in every facet of life… Correction. Inconsiderate slow people. If you’re slow, do it in a way that doesn’t bother other people. A good rule for slow people is stay at the edge of any place you are. Right lane on the freeway. Next to the building on the sidewalk. Just because you want to waste your life away being slow doesn’t mean other people need to as well.
@evilstan60 I don’t think they know they are slow.
My observation is that a disturbing number of people are (apparently) totally oblivious to their surroundings.
@macromeh When I used to walk with Simba, I was surprised at how few people noticed a 165lb carnivore coming up on them till we were within arm’s reach.
@narfcake
It’s been 28 minutes and you still haven’t posted what I thought you would post.
@PlacidPenguin I wouldn’t fly with the Warners either.
My twin, the flat slob!
How about the folks who feel the need to hang their bare feet or stinky sock feet in unpleasant places?
@RedOak These are the people that really just annoy me. I usually take x-stitching with me. I’m REALLY bad with my aim, so if their feet are in my space it’s really their own fault if the needle hits it.
The person who has the stinkiest food imaginable with them. Or the person who is the stinkiest person imaginable. Both always sit within smelling distance of me. Every. Time.
One of the more pleasant flights was when the flight attendant asked me if I wanted to move due to a care-dog in training sitting on the floor in our row… I didn’t… and that was the mellowest dog I’ve ever seen. Didn’t even lift his head from the floor for takeoff or landing.
Oh, and anyone with a fake “emotional support” animal wearing the vest they bought off of eBay.
@Dmelly
People like you keep me from flying with my emotional support cobra… https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelgoldstein/2018/05/17/no-snakes-on-the-plane-american-airlines-cracks-down-on-emotional-support-animals/#3af2ac7e7c1e
Go to hell
BABIES
…”please don’t sit in my section,” she gets closer “crap please don’t sit next to me,” she sits next to me 
Get to my seat and prepare for my long international flight. I’m very excited about my trip BUT as soon as I get comfortable a lady walks onto the plane with newborn twins
@msqaf00 Think how the lady feels. She has two newborn twins sitting with her on every single flight.
Every other person flying…
Trump
Like @msqaf00 said. BABIES.
The person who was in the seat next to me with a dog so stinky I had to stop myself from gagging the whole 4 hour flight. It actually made my throat hurt. Please bathe your dogs before flying with them.
I fly semi-frequently w/ my tot…and for the most part she’s pretty good…that being said…southwest allows us to board fairly early and at least I can move as far back as possible and ppl get warning that I have a kid and therefore can CHOSE to not sit next to me…which I am fine w/ as well…more often than not I get an empty seat next to me…space doesn’t hurt my feelings
The guy who takes their shoes off in flight.
Anyone who reclines their seat. Yup that’s my knees you are hitting.
Parents not even trying to get their kid to stop crying. No I am not making silly faces at your 1 year old to amuse them I am trying to get the to move their jaw in a way that will release the pressure on their ears and make them stop crying.
400 lb. 6 ft 5 guy who needs a belt extension and picked a middle seat. You are in my space too.This is mean but if you need a belt extension you should be required to pay for the larger seats in business or 1st class.
People who don’t appreciate my hard boiled egg and tuna salad. A man’s gotta eat you know?
Anyone who wants to talk to me!
Also, babies.
The loud person who decides to sit behind me and hold a conversation with their neighbor for the duration of the flight. This happened to me last week and the guy was very LOUD. He laughed out loud several times and basically talked the whole time. I think he might have had mental issues because he really did not have a filter. It is one thing to talk to your neighbor quietly, but it is a completely different thing to have a long drawn out conversation with a complete stranger in which you are talking to that person in a voice in which people can hear you 4 to 5 rows ahead and behind you.
Also, annoying was the lady who asked me to switch seats with her so that her kids could sit together, only she lied about the location of the seat. First, she said her seat was one row ahead then she said two rows ahead. Well, actually it wasn’t that bad because I ended up not sitting next to Chatty Charlie and she did!!!
I’ve never flown commercially, so I have NO idea, but in a prop plane it’d have to be the pilot who thinks everyone doesn’t care if they die on that flight and flies like a Grand Theft Auto pursuit suspect.
The person who wants the window seat with the bladder the size of a thimble. Don’t make other get up if you cant hold it.
@abamon81 I am that person. And I not only choose the aisle seat, I choose it at the back near the bathroom so I don’t have to disturb so many people going by.
@moondrake Many blessings to you kind person. May your next flight be on time with fair weather for flying!
@abamon81 I believe that if everyone were 25% more courteous and tolerant, life would be 75% more bearable.
I mean, ‘least favorite’ is probably hijacker/terrorist. But a close second is someone reclining their seat.
@dave But a hijacker might mean you get to see some awesome new location you never thought of going to!
@cinoclav @dave One way to travel internationally without having a passport.
The couple who have 5 or 6 carry on bags and get on early because their seats are all the way in the back, and put all their bags in the overhead in the first two rows, which include my seat. And now I have no place for my bag.
@olperfesser I don’t get that. I value the things in my carry-on way too much to have them out of my sight. But then about half the time when I’m traveling I’m going to an art show, and my carry-on is full of my art. Which makes me grateful for tall healthy young men who kindly volunteer to lift my bag full of heavy bronze jewelry into the overhead. One nice thing about living in the south, that kind of reflexive politeness is quite common.
The dude with GIANT headphones on who gets up and wears them into the toilet. That guy is awful.
@medz Why? Does it mean he’s going to stay there a long time? We used to joke about one of our travelling companions, “How long is Bob going to be in the hotel bathroom?” “He took a book, you’d better go down to the lobby.”
@moondrake Just annoying. I mean, look at him. (scoffs)
The 300lb person headed for the vacant seat next to me.
@cranky1950 300 isn’t even that big unless they’re 5’ tall.
@RiotDemon In modern airline seats they’re a seat and a half with fold down armrests.
Maybe this book cover would be useful?
Shatner.
"There’s… a man… on the wing of the plane!
Top 5 (in no particular order… unless they meet all of these… seen it once!)
Anyone with a “comfort” pet, particularly ones that either gets let them out of the cages or that bark/howl/meow the whole time.
People who insist on turning on and off their light all night on overnight flights.
Anyone who stands in the walkway of the terminal waiting in line to board three (or more) groups before their group is actually called to board
“Life story tellers”… I don’t want to know all your medical/personal/emotional issues
Small/frail people sitting in the window seats of exit row who can’t even heft their own carry-on into the overhead (Before you can occupy exit row seat, you should be required to demonstrate ability to lift 40-50 lb exit window)