I\u2019m flying calmly, window seat, thinking \u2014 an hour and a half flight, everything will be fine. A woman is sitting in front of me, a bit heavy, in a colorful sweater. The plane had just taken off when she, without looking, suddenly throws her seat back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m like \u2014 oh! \u2014 because my knees got crushed by the seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExcuse me,\u201d I say politely, leaning forward, \u201ccould you raise your seat a little? I\u2019m really cramped.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She didn\u2019t even turn her head:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more comfortable for me this way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I take a couple of seconds to process the answer, try to move my legs \u2014 no chance. I decide I won\u2019t just leave it like that. I press the call button for the flight attendant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A girl in uniform comes up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow can I help?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou see,\u201d I explain, \u201cthe passenger in front of me reclined her seat so much that my legs are pinned. I can\u2019t even move.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flight attendant politely leans toward the woman:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, but perhaps you could raise your seat a bit so your neighbor is more comfortable?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woman turns around with a look like I personally ruined her vacation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy back hurts. I paid for my seat, which means I can sit however I want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The flight attendant is clearly holding herself back from rolling her eyes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe ask everyone to consider the comfort of all passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, the woman slowly, with a demonstrative sigh, raises her seat a couple of centimeters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHappy now?\u201d she throws over her shoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, my legs haven\u2019t grown back yet, but it\u2019s better already, thank you,\u201d I smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She snorted, and the flight attendant gave me a barely noticeable wink and walked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About thirty minutes after the first \u201cattack,\u201d I was almost relaxed. And then \u2014 bam! \u2014 her seat flies back again. My knees are under pressure again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSeriously?\u201d I say out loud, but she doesn\u2019t even move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At that moment I realized \u2014 diplomacy no longer works. I decided to take action and get back at this rude, arrogant woman. Here\u2019s what I did.
Continuation in the first comment\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took a deep breath, slowly leaned forward and\u2026 gently lowered my tray table.
Not with a bang, not with force \u2014 just slowly, carefully\u2026 all the way down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then magic happened: her seat jerked forward sharply<\/strong>, as if someone punched her in the back. She jolted, turned around angrily:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 What do you think you\u2019re doing?!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I shrugged:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Sorry\u2026 it\u2019s just more comfortable for me this way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n She opened her mouth to snap back, but just then the plane hit a bit of turbulence. Her cup of coffee, sitting proudly on her tray table, slid \u2014 and half of it spilled right onto her stomach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She squealed, jumped up, shaking her blouse and muttering curses under her breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At that moment, the same flight attendant walked up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Is everything alright?<\/em> \u2014 she asked with an innocent smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The woman pointed at me, furious:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 He did it! He lowered his tray table on purpose and I\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The flight attendant looked at me, then at her. Then calmly said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Ma\u2019am, your tray table must be upright during turbulence. That\u2019s a safety rule. If you left it down \u2014 the responsibility is entirely yours.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The woman\u2019s jaw dropped, but no sound came out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The flight attendant continued:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 And speaking of safety\u2026 you reclined your seat again without warning. That also violates safety rules. You must keep your seat in the upright position for the rest of the flight.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The woman turned pale with rage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 But I\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 For the rest of the flight,<\/em> \u2014 the attendant repeated firmly. \u2014 It will be comfortable and safe for everyone<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The attendant stood over her with such confidence that the woman didn\u2019t dare argue. And that\u2019s how she sat for the remaining hour \u2014 straight, silent, and motionless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stretched my legs, poured myself some water, and finally relaxed for the first time during the flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we exited the plane, the flight attendant gave me a barely noticeable smile:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Some lessons in manners can only be learned this way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I smiled back \u2014 diplomacy doesn\u2019t always win, I\u2019m flying calmly, window seat, thinking \u2014 an hour and a half flight, everything will be fine. A woman is sitting in front of me, a bit heavy, in a colorful sweater. The plane had just taken off when she, without looking, suddenly throws her seat back. I\u2019m like \u2014 oh! \u2014 because my knees […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1715,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions\/1715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
With slow, trembling fingers, she raised her seat\u2026 all the way up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but respect never loses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"