Yea, I hate it when people whine about how everybody else does things on planes. We're all uncomfortable and need to make the best of an uncomfortable situation. If these things bother you, then get a life.

And where should mother change the baby? Trying to stand up in the tiny lavatory while the plane is flying and throwing the baby all around, while mom is trying to hold the baby down inside the tiny sink? The only safe place is while the mother is seated in her seat.

Mmmm. . . . reason 101 not to bring baby to Europe.

The baby and the diaper whine makes me laugh. I can't help thinking of my dear mother-in-law traveling home - alone - from Germany in the early 1950's. She was a new mother who had given birth in a foriegn country just two months before. She needed to go home because her parents needed her. Her husband had to stay behind - where he was serving his country. . . My husband was just a tiny baby. He was very, very ill on the plane. Here was this poor woman struggling, alone to take care of a sick baby on a 14 hour flight. I wonder what she would have thought had she even imagined that the people around her were fussing about where she changed the baby or why she had such a tiny person on the plane . . . . Some people on this board really need to check in with the realities of living. . . . .

I guess what bothers me the most is how men spread theirs legs out so it is impossible for me to keep mine away from theirs, especially is there is a man on both sides of me. And I wish there were rules for sharing the armrests. How come men always think that if a woman is sitting next to them then the man gets the armrest?

I gotta agree with the poster above - An armrest rule would be nice. I was on a 5 hour flight just last week next to an overweight, and even worse "crabby" woman who insisted in overflowing over both armrests. To top if off, she had a ton of long hair that she kept brushing into my face, getting in my food, etc. ugh - give me the young mother with the baby any time!

Grrr, you hit it. I thought I was the only one about the armrest. Why do men think they own the whole armrest for the entire trip?

But I do have to hand it to the airlines. The greatest innovation thus far in the 21st century are the individual video screens, when they work. It seems to cut down on some of the incessant talking groups of people indulge in, loudly, during trans-Atlantic trips. Have you ever been on the plane with a crew going to or coming from offshore drilling? I would rather be in hell with a broken back.

I guess I never realized how difficult it would be for a mother to change the diaper in the bathroom. You are right and I am wrong about that one. (but I sure do hate to drop something when I am in my seat and then reach down to find it and come up with a dirty diaper. That has happened to me twice!)

I will never feel that it is right for a person to put their seatback all the way for the whole flight. And they are wrong, wrong, wrong to give dirty looks to the people behind them who have to grab onto their seatbacks just so they can get out of their seats without falling. Extremely inconsiderate to keep your seat back like that when you aren't even sleeping!

elsa:
are you saying that the dirty diaper was left on the floor or the seat???
That's disgusting!
I have seen mothers change diapers by putting a cloth or blanket under the child, change the diaper, wrap it up in papertowels and place it in a old plastic shopping bag and then dispose of it. I thought THAT was the right way to do it.

Each time I found the dirty diapers, they were on the floor. Once under my seat, and once under the seat in front of me.

I guess they don't clean the planes between flights.

Do they change the pillowcases?

Air France allows parents to use the crew quarters the rear of the plane for child changing purposes. Pretty good idea.
I hate it when the first people on the plane place their stuff in the overhead bins in the front of the plane leaving no room for the folks who sit there.

<<I hate it when the first people on the plane place their stuff in the overhead bins in the front of the plane leaving no room for the folks who sit there>>

I finally solved that one. I ask all those sitting around me if the items in the overhead bin above my seat are theirs. If everyone says no, I remove them and put them in the aisle. The flight attendant finds out who put them there and they usually turn out to belong to someone at the very rear of the plane....

Lee:

Love it!

Interesting, this post is on the "Airline" forum:

"Message: just came back from london. flew the new 777 both ways. best seats we every had were the two seats in FRONT of the loo (window and aisle).
they DID recline and the best part was that no one was sitting behind you - like a kid that is allowed to use your seat for a play gym or other older people that think the back portion of your seat is a device made just for them to get up and down in there own seat - very annoying."

It sounds like we're all very annoying to each other!

Re: armrests

It's not just the armrest that people think they are entitled to. A woman sitting next to me put her handbag (purse) on MY seat (I was already seated - she had to squish it between my leg and the armrest) and looked very surprised and hurt when I asked her to remove it.

Can I put in my 2cents? I travelled to Russia last year for the first time. One the flight from London to Moscow and on the return, my side passengers were Russian and both took out their newspapers, opened fully and proceeded to read the entire flight. I had a paper in my face the entire time and did not know what to do. Is this common? When I read a paper on a plane (and have lived oversead many years and flown many miles), I fold the paper to a managable size and read it article by article... funny experience, though.
And regarding the children thread... I flew with 2 year old twin without my hubby many times and never, ever left a dirty diaper behind. Disgusting behavior...

In such close proximity, even normal things become annoying. Just listening (without trying to) to someone in a surrounding seat drone on about their life (which they think is interesting, but isn't) is annoying. But they have the right to talk. I have resolved to always travel with ear plugs. As for the seat, it is my right to recline, but if it interferes with the person behind me, I think they have the right to bump it or use it as a crutch (so long as they are not doing so just to get me back).

My seat goes back, I can sleep on a transatlantic flight. My seat goes back, and I don't get achey hips and knees. The guy in front of me puts his seat all the way back, and I can get out of my seat, eat my gourmet airline dinner and watch the video screen. I fly coach all the time, and I've never had a seatback end up in my lap. Guess I'm lucky; everyone else who flies seems to end up with a cabin configuration that allows seatbacks to go back too far.

And isn't the uncivilized behavior shown on an airplane the same behavior you see in supermarkets, on the highway, in restaurants, in theaters, in your own neighborhood? The airplane is like a mini-town, and the lousy behavior manifested isn't any worse than that found anywhere else. The only way to make behavior more civilized is for civilized people to take action (like Lee's solution to the overhead thing - no fit-pitching, no swearing or nastiness, just polite intervention) and not suffer in silence during the offensive behavior.

And don't ever underestimate the power of letter-writing: the dirty diaper under the seat deserves a letter to the airline. Again, no swearing, no high-horse comments "we taxpayers just bailed you out so you owe us", no "you people" comments - state the facts and your concerns ("this could be a health hazard, and fortunately I found it before someone else who might have really made trouble"). Fixing this isn't a "they" thing, it's an "us" thing.

I have to agree with the armrests, but I don't know about it being the men all the time, but definitely the most. The thing that gets me the most is when your watching a movie or trying to sleep and that darn pilot keeps coming overhead, interrupting everything to tell you how high we are up or where we are, I don't care I want to sleep so I'm not dead with the 6 hour time change! I know this doesn't happen very frequently, but once going to Italy form the US, the pilot came on every five mins. for about 30 mins because he kept forgetting to tell us something.

I was unfortunate to have the middle seat in the middle section (2-3-2 config). When I tried to get into my seat, I could not; one of the women seated next to my seat had put her large carry-on bag where my feet should go.

When I asked her to move it please, she got mad and huffy. Whatever happened to courtesy and manners?

It drives me crazy when I get on the plane and someone is already in my seat. It usually turns out they are there not because they can't figure out how to read the seat numbers, but because they would rather have my seat than their own (like the window not aisle). If you want a certain type of seat get to the airport early like I did and request it, and get the heck out of my seat!

I don't care how awkward it is to change your baby in the lavatory. It is absolutely _disgusting_ to have a poopy diaper being changed on a seat. The stench fills the cabin even more than when the act is done in the lavatory. Also- if you insist on travelling with your children, at least make an effort to keep them quiet. A lot of us don't think they're cute at all, let alone as cute as you think they are. I try to fly in business class as often as possible to cut down on the number of "little darlings" I have to deal with. And no, I don't have children.

topping

Anything else bug you?

Once, coming home from Paris on Air France, an American woman reclined her seat so far back that her head was almost in my lap. I retaliated by putting cookie crumbs and a piece of quiche in her hair. The Indian man sitting next to me couldn't stop laughing.

If someone reclines too far into my lap, I 'usually' start sneezing from their perfume or cologne. A couple of coughs, a deep throat clearing and a few sneezes usually works wonders at clearing personal space. I have not yet gone so far as to say, 'Honey, would you pass me my aids medication', but I bet that would work on the toughest of customers.

NoDiapers

Gee, you sound like a lot of fun. No kids huh...probably no spouse, no friends and no sense of humor either.

I do not get the complaining about other peoples seats being too far back. I fly alot and except for certain seats-all seats recline!!!!On long flights--overseas flights it has been the norm in the past that people--yes the ones in front of you have the right to push their seats all----the way back---total reclinng position---not to annoy the person behind--who of course has the same right to recline but because it is more comfortable--perhaps even leading to sleep--I do not hate it when the person in front of me reclines their seat. I figure that it is more comfortable for them and big deal!!!

Sneezy, you can't get AIDS from sitting next to someone, breating the same air, or touching them, so your comment is insipid. Did you graduate from high school or have your GED?

Well, Lee, thanks a lot for delaying all those flights I've taken. Now I know why we have to sit there while the attendents try to find out who left the things in the aisle.

Wendy, I don't think anyone minds when people recline their seats so that they can sleep.

It is when meals are served or the movie is on and people are up and moving about that people resent having the back of the seat in front of them in their laps.

It is almost impossible to get out of your seat and into the aisle when the seats in the next row are reclined all the way. And then you really do have to hold onto the seat backs to be able to bend so that you can get out. I don't understand why the people who insist on reclining their seats for the whole flight get so upset when you have to do this, either.

I'm lots of fun! And I have a spouse, plenty of friends and a sense of humor. I just don't like kids until they can go to the bathroom by themselves (and complete all necessary tasks) and hold a coherent conversation.

I realize that the world will not bend to my will (too bad) and deal with this sad fact on a daily basis

Even worse than kids, though is people who recline- which I don't mind too much- and **Smell.** This has happened to me before and I had to move.

topping

really stupid discussion. what a thrill you folks must be, always running into poopy diapers. jeesus, what boxcars are you travellig in? I never witness any of this stuff. maybe you people are primed, looking beefore you board, no wonder you see it so much.

I think that carrying a 'hatpin' (if you can find one nowdays) is the answer to most of these problems. The other would be to pick your nose and suggest that you left something on the armrest. Hope nobody has to resort to these tactics. Perhaps a polite request would suffice..like 'excuse me, perhaps we could share.!

A woman took the seat in front of us and smelled so bad that my eyes were watering. We felt so sorry for the poor man who sat next to her. Finally, about an hour into the flight, the stewardess asked him to come with her, and she put him into a seat on the other side of the plane. (Since he hadn't left his seat before this, I am sure that he didn't ask to be moved. But he sat as close to the window as he could get, poor guy.)

It really annoys me when someone reclines their seat in front without asking. I'm 5'10", and still find that in order to get enough leg room in economy I have to either ask for an emergency exit seat or an aisle seat so I can sit comfortably (and yes, I do move my legs out of the way when people walk past!)

What I find works is if it looks like someone will recline their seat, I cross my legs. If they ask politely, I will uncross them and let them recline without complaint. If they don't ask, then they get a knee in the small of their back!

As for changing the baby, I can't understand why someone would do it in their seat - not least because there's even less room than trying to do it in the toilets! No Diapers - some people actually love their kids and want to take them on holiday (and pay more as a result for that.) If you can afford to avoid them by flying business class then fine - that's your choice.

What really bugs me, though, are people in check-in lines who get to the counter but don't have their tickets and/or passports ready and have to rummage around in their carry-on bags or purses/handbags to find them. Come on! You've been standing in line for about half an hour - did you really not expect to be asked for these?

ttt

why should someone have to ask to move their set back? It's my right, you should just expect it when you get in a plane. If you say no, I am still going to move it back, only if I plan on sleeping that is.

I find it childish when people behind you think they have the right to prevent you from reclining. Of course, the childish response to crossing legs (to keep someone in front of you from reclining) is for the person wanting to recline to slap his/her seat backwards into those knees. I don't advocate either strategy, but only note how childish it all is.

I hate it when people use this forum as their own little pet peeve site when they get bored.