# Normal things you refuse to do on a plane **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307 "2011-06-21T16:55:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/81 "2011-06-24T02:26:14Z")
I’m kind of suprised at how uptight many people are on planes. I fly all the time, domestic and international. I dont really enjoy it, but because its boring, not because everybody and their brother is annoying me. I love it if the person next to me is chatty, regardless of their pedigree. I fly first class 90% of the time, but I dont mind business class if I have to. I can even manage to take a whizz without pissing all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/82 "2011-06-24T02:30:56Z")
> [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > I’m kind of suprised at how uptight many people are on planes. \ I fly first class 90% of the time, but I dont mind business class if I have to. Try coach sometime if you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around the problem. It might enlighten you. ---
**Author:** ![Snake\_Plissken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@Snake\_Plissken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snake_Plissken)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/83 "2011-06-24T02:50:14Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Try coach sometime if you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around the problem. It might enlighten you. I’ve mellowed with age, I’m sure I would survive it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/84 "2011-06-24T13:42:39Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > How do you people sit that you are constantly bothered by the person in front of you? Butt in the seat, feet on the floor. It’s a technique that I learned as a child. Then again, I’m 6’1". I fly jetBlue whenever possible, because they make planes not made for midgets. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I wouldn’t actually ask to switch but I’d be silently cursing them out the whole flight if they are so large that their flesh goes over the armrest and squeezes against me. I don’t want to spend 6 hours pressed against your sweaty flab, thank you very much. How do you sit that you are constantly pressed up against sweaty flab? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/85 "2011-06-24T14:08:32Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > How is this possible? I am 5’ 7" and I always have room in coach even when the person in front of me reclines. > > How do you people sit that you are constantly bothered by the person in front of you? People are proportioned differently - perhaps you carry more of your height in your torso than your legs. As someone who is the opposite of this my knees have been smacked by more seat backs than I care to mention. Also I’ve had things knocked off the tray table when people abruptly recline their seats. If you’re going to recline please at least do it carefully. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/86 "2011-06-24T14:14:07Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I picked “overhead bin”, since I travel really light and my small bag slips under the seat. My in-flight bag would also fit under the seat in front of me, but having both my bag and my big, ugly feet would be pushing it. Since I can’t put my feet in the overhead bin, the bag has to go. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/87 "2011-06-24T14:36:47Z")
> [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > I’ve mellowed with age, I’m sure I would survive it. Oh sure you would. But do it enough and you’ll eventually find reasons to be annoyed with it as well. You wondered why people are so uptight on planes and why would you understand having such limited experience. What makes flying so bad for the vast majority is being crushed in there like sardines to the extent that what little personal space you are allotted is so thoroughly and frequently invaded. This, I assume, is not the case in first/business class. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/88 "2011-06-24T14:39:59Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > People are proportioned differently - perhaps you carry more of your height in your torso than your legs. > > As someone who is the opposite of this my knees have been smacked by more seat backs than I care to mention. > > Also I’ve had things knocked off the tray table when people abruptly recline their seats. If you’re going to recline please at least do it carefully. I think if more people registered their extreme distress at the lack of reasonable room, the airlines would have to do something about it. It’s too bad more people that experience this don’t complain vehemently about it – to the airlines who decide how much space you get as opposed to fellow passengers who are also dealing with a lack of comfort. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/89 "2011-06-24T14:45:24Z")
If people registered their disgust the airlines will do as they have always done- bugger all. Their prime focus is to get as many people from point A to Point B (often via Point C) and make as much money as possible. As for the poster who mentions he feels little discomfort because he travels first class etc. I go steerage to London for about $2000. If I fly first class I am looking at around $15,000. That is a lot of difference for comfort. Not everyone has employers who foot the bill. (Figures from last time I checked). ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/90 "2011-06-24T14:55:07Z")
I am that horrible passenger that fidgets constantly. I got a DVT in my lower leg one year after a cross country flight. A year of injections and blood thinners later, I make sure to hydrate thouroughly beforehand, drink lots of water during, and get up every 30 minutes to stretch and move my legs. I love anytime I have an excuse to move during a flight. Need to get out to use the washroom? Sure! I’ll move! You need something from the overhead? I’ll get it for you! I do try to always get an aisle, but I never want to go through another DVT again. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/91 "2011-06-24T15:44:01Z")
Before this and the other thread I had no idea that airplane bathrooms were such Lovecraftian abysses of fetid horror. I’ve just been getting up, peeing, washing my hands, and going back; completely innocent of the nameless invisible entities from beyond space and time, who wait to take my health and sanity away. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/92 "2011-06-24T16:53:27Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > I got a DVT in my lower leg one year after a cross country flight. Ouch. How long was the flight? The longest flight I’ve ever had was 6 hours. Halfway through I had to get up to use the bathroom. There was a pretty long line and I had to wait awhile. It was pure heaven! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/93 "2011-06-24T17:46:23Z")
The only thing on the poll list I don’t do is recline the seat. I know how cramped I feel when the person in front of me reclines their seat, so I don’t do that to the person behind me. Why do I feel cramped when the person in front of me reclines their seat? Because instead of the seat back in front of me being a close but tolerable distance away, even reading a book becomes a bit of a squash, and manipulating even a netbook-sized laptop becomes all but impossible. And forget trying to reach anything I’ve got stowed under the seat in front of me: I just can’t get there from here, once the person in front of me reclines. So hell no, I’m not going to inflict that on someone else. > [@Zsofia](#): > > Seriously, I’m always a little confused by these threads where everybody complains about people reclining into their laps and shoving their heads into their faces. I haven’t been on a plane in more than a decade where the seats reclined more than two inches, if that. I fly Southwest mostly, and the seats usually recline by noticeably more than the thickness of the seat back, because space opens up between the non-reclined seat back and the reclined seat front next to it. And even four inches is a big deal when you only start off with about a foot of space between your nose and the seat back in front of you. * * * I used to not talk to strangers on airplanes, but ever since my wife and I started traveling with the Firebug, that’s changed dramatically. We usually sit near the back of the plane, and there are usually other parents with small children seated nearby; we inevitably find ourselves talking to the other parents nearby. There seems to be a we’re-all-in-this-together dynamic shared by most parents of small children, we obviously share a major interest, and it certainly helps to pass the time. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/94 "2011-06-24T20:00:34Z")
On the last flight I took I couldn’t help but recline my seat. It didn’t quite lock in the upright position. Once I became aware of it, I had to press the little button every couple of minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/95 "2011-06-24T20:12:21Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > How do you sit that you are constantly pressed up against sweaty flab? :dubious: I’m not. Did you miss the word “if” in my statement? I’ve been lucky enough to not sit next to an extremely overweight person so far. I said\* if I did\* find myself seated next to someone who was\* too large for their seat\*, I would be silently cursing them out. I have, in other situations, been stuck sitting next to someone too large for their seat, such as on the subway or bus, and it is not anything I would like go through for 6 hours. 5-10 minutes is one thing. A 6 hour+ flight is quite another. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/96 "2011-06-24T20:21:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’m not. Did you miss the word “if” in my statement? I’ve been lucky enough to not sit next to an extremely overweight person so far. I said\* if I did\* find myself seated next to someone who was\* too large for their seat\*, I would be silently cursing them out. Sorry if I was a little snarky. And yeah, it can be unleasant. I’ve been through it. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/97 "2011-06-24T20:23:34Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Try coach sometime if you’re having trouble wrapping your mind around the problem. It might enlighten you. Stop asking for First Class treatment at your $99 special coach prices. 😉 Oh wait, Southwest [boots people](http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/not-so-silent-bob) for being too wide. You’re on a commercial airplane, not Air Force One. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/98 "2011-06-24T20:30:11Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > If people registered their disgust the airlines will do as they have always done- bugger all. Their prime focus is to get as many people from point A to Point B (often via Point C) and make as much money as possible. > > As for the poster who mentions he feels little discomfort because he travels first class etc. I go steerage to London for about $2000. If I fly first class I am looking at around $15,000. That is a lot of difference for comfort. Not everyone has employers who foot the bill. > > (Figures from last time I checked). I don’t know if you were talking about me or not. I get lucky because my stepmom works for United. That being said, I fly United almost always, which means that if I’m going from DEN to Iowa or San Jose then I’m almost always on a tiny plane. So if someone leans back, I suffer. If I pay for a ticket or there are no First seats available, I have myself a drink and a klonopin and flip on the Kindle. My son almost always flies with me and he prefers First Class, too (unlimited cookies and milk!) but he’s not even a dick enough at six to scoff at overweight people or Chatty Cathys. It’s an _airplane_. It’s public air transport. I don’t expect first class service on the light rail, either. That being said, I wouldn’t book an international flight without being on at least business. I’m in the States. When I went to HK, we went business (seriously felt like First) and there’s no FUCKING WAY I’d spend 18 hours in coach. edit: I’m more likely to complain about baggage fees or people overpacking and the hauling it to their seats. Also, United sucks re: leg room. “For more leg room, pay us $178 more dollars and we’ll stick you in aisles 1-20.” ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/99 "2011-06-24T20:53:08Z")
I don’t understand the dope’s general consensus on flying in the slightest. Flying takes me to and from a location I’m generally excited to visit in comfort comparable to a car or train in coach and something better in first class, and does so in an order of magnitude less time than it would take than any other means of transport for trips \>500 miles. During the flight, I am almost entirely removed from my day to day responsibilities and I have the freedom to read for pleasure, nap, or enjoy a drink without worrying about driving. Why the hate? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307/100 "2011-06-24T21:54:17Z")
> [@threemae](#): > > …in comfort comparable to a car or train in coach and something better in first class… Either you’ve been traveling in much better planes or much worse cars than I have. Trains, I’ll grant, are often only slightly more comfortable than coach on a plane. I find light rail comparable, generally. I’ve been on trains that were significantly more spacious and comfortable than first class on a plane, though. > [@](#): > > Why the hate? I can’t speak for anyone else here, but in my case, it involves the word “phobia”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-things-you-refuse-to-do-on-a-plane/586307.md?page=6)