Reclining airline seats: Brace for impact!
Airplanes and comfy seats rarely belong in the same sentence. But our Luke Burbank thinks he's found the perfect way to ease airplane agony:
I was on a flight recently, when something very unfortunate happened… a tall, tall man sat right in front of me, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he would be committing that unspeakable act of reclining his seat.
Now years ago, this wouldn't have been such a big deal. Flying was a civilized event. The airlines gave us room to stretch out. People wore suits. Hell, they even let you smoke!
But these days, things have changed. They've shrunk our personal passenger space down to the point where you need to slather yourself up in Crisco just to wedge yourself into your seat.
And forget about choosing exactly where that seat will be. The way it works these days is you buy the ticket, and then they tell you it's another hundred dollars if you want to actually be inside the airplane.
Anyway, as our flight took off, I braced for impact – the impact of the seat in front of me hitting my knees. But when we reached cruising altitude, something amazing happened …. Nothing. By which I mean this very tall man in front of me decided not to recline his seat! It was a random act of kindness, and one that's stayed with me to this day.
It also got me thinking: why do we recline our seats on the plane? It's not like it makes that much of a difference.
Here's me sitting straight, and here's me reclined (moves back a tiny bit)
Reclining your seat improves your experience by 1% … and ruins the experience of the person behind you by 99%. Economists call this trade-off "Being A Jerk."
I say it's time for a national movement. I know, another one. But just hear me out: if we all agree not to lean our seats back, we can make the world (at least the world of air travel) a slightly better place.
I'm calling it the "Decline 2 Recline" movement. We're gonna have T-shirts and everything! We were going to have buttons, but they don't let those through security anymore. (Don't get me started.)
Anyway, next time you're on the plane, and you're about to recline your seat, think about the person behind you, and practice a little kindness. You never know: one day, the knees you save may be your own.
- The endangered first-class airline seat (CBS Moneywatch, 06/23/16)
- FAA: Not in the business of regulating legroom on airplanes (CBS Moneywatch, 07/04/18)
- Advocates fear shrinking airline seats could slow evacuations ("CBS Evening News," 09/23/17)
- How to stop the airline seat in front of you from reclining (CBS News, 09/14/10)
- Passenger unintentionally pairs strangers on flight, documents budding romance on Twitter (CBS News, 07/04/18)
More from Luke Burbank:
- Should you clone your dog?
- CrossFit to be tied
- On gamers and the game we should play
- How smart technology can make us dumb
- A dad's take on teen fatherhood
- On Manti Te'o and imaginary girlfriends
- My name is Luke, and I am a binge TV viewer
- The future of "Back to the Future" is almost here!
For more info:
Story produced by Aria Shavelson.
