The view from the cheap seats ain’t bad. I have to like it. There’s no alternative. I can’t afford to fly business. I’ve only done it three times.

I’m looking to change that btw. I’ve been trying to cut down on quantity and raise the bar on quality when it comes to travelling. But I digress.

The point is, flying economy is basically always uncomfortable.

It can be less uncomfortable or more uncomfortable, but it’s never comfortable.

Even if you’re not that tall, which I’m not. And here’s the hot take: airplane seats shouldn’t recline the way they do.

My last transoceanic flight was worse than usual because a d**khead in front of me reclined his seat as far as it would go and that made me even more cramped.

Not to mention that meant I had to bend my neck lower because that also meant the infotainment screen in the headrest was lower than it should be.

And what the heck was I supposed to do about it?

Technically he was entitled to do so.

I exacted some petty revenge by ‘accidentally’ slamming his seat with my knees and my hands a couple of times when I got up to use to restroom, and by the 11th hour (yeah it was a really long flight) and second in-flight meal I lost my patience and told him, not very nicely, he had to sit upright during service because otherwise I wouldn’t be able to eat, and that’s about it.

I blame the flight attendant by the way.

I told the flight attendant, “can you please ask him to sit upright at least during service?”

The flight attendant told me, “but he’s asleep."

To which I replied, “ok but you’ll wake him up for his meal about 5 seconds from now anyway so...” the flight attendant ignored me and so I woke my fellow passenger up.

Not very sweetly.

He looked at me sideways, but I stared at him hard, like I was contemplating what he’d look like without a head, and so he said nothing, and I said nothing, and that ended there.

Once again, technically he wasn’t doing anything wrong.

I never recline my seat all the way, never, out of courtesy for the passenger behind me, and most people are like me, but not everyone.

And you can’t really do anything about it if they choose to be inconsiderate.

So the solution is simple: remove that option.

Airlines shouldn’t allow Economy seats to recline as far as they do, because if you knock your seat back all the way, it’ll make your journey a tiny bit better, but it’ll make the journey for the passenger behind you significantly worse.

The discomfort you’re giving me significantly outweighs the little comfort you’re giving yourself.

Or viceversa, if the shoe is on the other foot.

That’s my view. From the cheap seats.