I’ve had a change of heart on seat reclining

A while back, I did a couple of polls about whether it’s rude to recline your seat while flying. It was pretty well split—some people thought it was super rude and others thought it was mostly okay. In the past, I’ve always been of the mind that it’s perfectly fine to recline as long as you do it slowly, and don’t do it during meal service. Well, after my recent flying experience, I’ve had a change of heart.

A few weeks ago, I was flying home from Charlotte. I had some work that needed to be done, so I got out my laptop. Just as I set it on the tray (but before I opened it), the guy in front of me threw back his seat. Had my laptop been open, he would have broken it. I tried to open it, but couldn’t get it up enough to see the screen, and so gave up.

It’s not that I think that reclining your seat is always rude. In fact, I still think it’s not rude in most cases. However, unless there are extenuating circumstances, I don’t plan to recline anymore. I just don’t want to cut into someone’s space that much. (Of course, if the seat behind me is the exit row, well, I’m totally reclining.) I think people who have a medical condition should definitely recline as needed. I also think that anyone who reclines should do it slowly and mindfully, and try very hard not to just throw their seat back.

Anyone agree? Disagree? Had a change of heart as well?