It’s old news now, but Etiquetteer remains appalled by the behavior of the air traveler deliberately and repeatedly thumping the seat of the woman seated in front of him, Wendi Williams, because she had reclined her seat. Have you seen the video? You need to see the video for proof that grown men behave this way.
People, behaving like a pre-schooler is not a Perfectly Proper way to solve your problems. The best advice is the simplest: Use your words! A low-voiced, courteous request not to recline quite so steeply would more likely have been greeted with better results. And really, Etiquetteer has to wonder if this man would have behaved in this way if a man had been seated in that seat and not a woman.
Unfortunately, no one except Ms. Williams comes out of this looking good, and Ms. Williams has certainly taken some grief from Internet trolls based on how she handled the situation. Obviously Passive-Aggressive Thumping Man comes out the worst, and Etiquetteer hopes he’ll make a public apology to Ms. Williams soon. American Air Lines, unfortunately, didn’t cover itself with glory either. It appears the flight attendant sided with Passive-Aggressive Thumping Man - and even offered him a free drink! - because Ms. Williams had had to resort to filming him. Really, is it a good idea to provide free alcohol to a passenger whose behavior is already so violent? Finally, unavoidably, the previously referenced Internet trolls made inaccurate and offensive suggestions about how Ms. Williams handled the situation based on the video. The video, of course, didn’t include the entire situation.
None of this would have happened if the airlines would stop shrinking seats and seat pitch to maximize profits. Unfortunately the Federal Aviation Administration refused to regulate these in 2018. Those of us who are not Petite Flowers are having an increasingly difficult time achieving even basic comfort on board. Ms. Williams is quite right, then, when she said “It’s the airline’s job to fix the problem, not mine!”
So, some quick guidelines:
Violence is not an acceptable way to solve problems.
Use your words. Solving a problem actually means talking to other people, including strangers. Get over it.
Don’t give free alcohol to travelers who are behaving violently.
Don’t recline your seat on the airplane unless you really need to, and then only as much as you need.
Really, if you can’t behave, just stay home.
