To Recline On Board Or To Not Recline

You know what the biggest complaint of seated airline passengers is? It's the reclining seat, or should the guy or girl in front of you be allowed to recline his or her seat into your 17 inches of space. It's causing arguments between passengers, some physical confrontations, a whole lot of physical discomfort, and has even resulted in complaining passengers being arrested or planes being forced to land prematurely to defuse a potentially violent mess on board.

In addition to that seat belt and safety speech we all endure each flight,  flight attendants should consider issuing the recline warning to passengers before take-off. It might be something simple like, "Caution: reclining your seat into the already too crowded space of the passenger behind you may cause an unpleasant reaction that is hazardous to your health and airline safety".  Just to let the recline passenger know...

I think the reclining seat was once a marvelous pleasure for passengers, but hen the airliners became so crowded and space for the passengers around their seats so small, it might be impolite and even dangerous to recline anymore. But then, the airlines still allow the seats to go back. I always seem to get the type of passenger in front of me who leans back and assaults my knees in the process. But as much as I dislike it and think it inconsiderate,  never question his or her right to do so. Other passengers aboard are not as docile as I about this. I have seen some nasty moments between the reclining passenger and the infringed one.

The airlines are to blame for the current seat size but if you ask the airlines abut the reclining seat furor, they avoid the question, stating it is an issue better solved onboard with a little rational understanding.  Ha! Rational? Who can be rationale when flying today? It is impossible to be rational when abused so much. That's why one company made allot of money selling a "knee defender" that clips to your seat and prevents the guy in front from reclining into your space.

I guess we passengers should just accept the abuse and move to another seat, if one is available, when the reclining seat becomes a problem. Or we could just stay home and forget the whole thing.