A plane passenger has sparked a fierce debate online after revealing that he was asked by the person sitting behind him not to recline his seat... but he did so anyway.
Now, flying for any length of time is potentially one of the most uncomfortable ways to travel, that's why so many of us opt to recline our seats - giving us just a modicum of comfort that allows us to relax a little bit.
However, spare a thought for those sitting behind - as they are suddenly faced with the back of a seat invading their space, lowering their screen, knocking their drinks, and even potentially shattering their laptops.
That's the reason some plane passengers are totally against the idea of reclining your seat - which is the situation one frequent flyer found himself in on a recent flight.
Taking to Reddit's Am I The A**hole? forum, the passenger explained in his post that he was confronted by an angry passenger who instructed him not to recline his seat during their 4.5-hour flight.
Writing in his post, the man explains: "Hotly debated topic, I get it.
"I fly 150k miles a year, so my routine is pretty frequent. Paid for first class, as I’m a big guy (6’3” and 350 lbs) - after the ding at 10,000 feet, I look back to make sure the person behind me doesn’t have a laptop out or anything, then slowly recline my seat back. Especially up at the front of the plane, usually no one has any issues at all."
However, despite courteously looking behind him to make sure the passenger behind him wasn't using a laptop, just a few seconds later, he felt somebody tapping him on the shoulder.
"Raise your damn seat," the passenger behind him apparently demanded.
Despite temporarily obliging to the man's request, the Redditor explains that he called over the flight attendant and told her that he intended to once again recline his seat after the in-flight meal service.
"She reassured me that’s my prerogative, so I didn’t worry about it," the man writes.
However, after once again reclining his seat, his relaxation was once again disturbed by the passenger behind, who allegedly told him: "I asked you to move your seat up, man."
After calling the flight attendant over, the passenger behind - who he says was about the same size as him - was informed that the man "was entitled to recline his seat."
Despite the situation not escalating any further, the man writes that the fellow passenger glared at him as they exited they plane.
"I feel I was respectful about it, but I just wasn’t gonna sit up straight for 4+ hours after paying for a ticket in 1st," he writes, before asking who was in the wrong.
Enter the comments section - and people had a lot to say.
One supporter wrote: "It frankly sounds like you were more considerate than most. You checked for a laptop - which is a super considerate move that probably only frequent flyers would think of. That guy was being more than a bit entitled. First class has plenty of room. You paid for a seat that reclined."
"When on a commercial airliner, you 'own' the space from the back of your fully reclined chair to the back of the chair in front when it is fully reclined," one person commented.
Although, one person disagreed, writing: "You're also entitled to take off your smelly shoes and eat a dozen cans of surströmming, but doing so makes you an asshole. Discomforting someone else to make yourself marginally more comfortable is practically the definition of an a**hole to me."
Another agreed, writing: "While I think the airline industry is most at fault, I hate people who recline. It makes my flight miserable. It is antisocial behavior. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. So, [You're The A**hole]."
"No reclining seats sounds like bliss. I don't fault people for reclining, but I do fault the airline," another added.
What do you think about reclining seats? Let us know in the comments section.
