What if I don't WANT to close my blinds?
 

I admit...I'm a wimp...but mad at myself because I closed my blinds when asked to do so on a daytime flight last week from Glasgow to Toronto. The problem is...I WANTED TO READ which is why I had a window seat. I have extremely low vision and need lots of light to read. The little light above just doesn't do it! I would not have been able to see the movie if I had wanted to. (A double feature!) What to do in the future?

Sorry, <BR>can't back you up on this one. I think you were right to close the blind. I recently had an 8 hr. flight from Paris sitting near a woman who refused to close the blind. I felt she was just being spiteful. She wasn't reading or anything. She just wanted it open, despite the fact that it was really bothering everyone else. I couldn't even concentrate on the movie because of the glare of the sunlight. Only relief was when I went to sleep and put my eyeshade on. I'm sorry, I'm pretty Utilitarian on this one: The greatest good for the greatest number. In this instance that means closing the blind.

I'm with Carole -- I insist on a window seat because I want to see out (it becomes a requirement if there's enough turbulence for me to lose my equilibrium); and frankly, the clouds or ground sights (have you ever seen Manhattan from 30K feet?!!) are often a LOT better to look at than a silly movie, esp. one I've already seen. <BR> <BR>However, I know how hard it is to see the screen if outside light shines directly on it. So if I find myself too close to a projector or screen, I try to open just the first few inches of the blind -- enough for me to look out and/or read, but somewhat obscured to help others see the movie. I just hope others realize that's a compromise because I'd RATHER leave it all the way open -- and not assume I'm being thoughtless because it's not all the way shut. <BR> <BR>Airlines could help out here by making the brightness and contrast of the screens a little sharper for daytime flights. They could also help out by making it possible for people to know exactly where the windows and screens line up so that they don't put me in a screen-side window seat.

hi carole - <BR> <BR>you have every right to keep the window shade open...if you can come to some sort of half-open/half-shut compromise that's great, but if not, feel welcome to leave it open (no matter what your reason). <BR> <BR>in fact, people like kim are quite rude and self-centered to expect those sitting in the window seats to operate the window shades according to their needs. (and did she take a poll to find out how many people cared that it was open or did she just assume that it was a plane-wide problem because it bothered her?) <BR> <BR>it's okay to make the request (maybe the person sitting there really doesn't care) but if the answer is no, it's no. <BR> <BR>next time, politely refuse, explaining that you need the light to read. if you still don't feel comfortable with that for fear that some window-nazi will start reading you your rights, just lie and say you get motion sick if you can't see out. nobody wants to smell vomit for the duration of a long flight.

Funny how hypocritical people are with the anonymity of a computer: I'm singled out and attacked for my opinion, yet, I'm the "rude and self-centered" one. Incredible. Only in a Fodor's forum...

kim - <BR> <BR>who is being anonymous? i am using my real name and i would just as quickly tell you (or anyone else) in person that it is rude and self-centered to EXPECT someone to do what YOU want just because YOU want it. if it makes you feel any better, i will downgrade "rude" to "inconsiderate". why was the woman on your flight "spiteful" just because she wanted something different than you? and who are you to dictate what is an acceptable reason to want the window shade open? did you ever consider that maybe she is a person who gets motion sickness? or maybe she is claustrophobic and it makes her feel better to see out? or maybe she has some other perfectly reasonable reason for wanting it open which is just as valid as your "i couldn't even concentrate on the movie"...did you ask her to compromise and shut it halfway? what i get from your post is: you asked her to shut it, she said no, and because you did not get your way, you decided she was a bad person and a burden to everyone. <BR> <BR>as for "singling you out": you were the only person who has posted such an opinion thus far. if there had been a "joe" or "suzy" or "zdq76249" i would have said 'like kim and so-and-so'. i could have left out your name and said 'people with opinion "x"' but it would still have been quite obvious that i was referring to your post. <BR> <BR>as for my being hypocritical: i'll maybe let you slide by on the rude count (because i can see how maybe some people might think it is rude to actually use your name rather than insinuate it the way you did...which i personally think is much ruder and an insult to everyone's intelligence) but i'm not sure you even understand what hypocritical means. in what way am i self-centered? because i, too, dare to have an opinion? and one that differs from yours at that?! and FYI i am an aisle seat kind of girl and i don't care what people do with the window...i just hate to see carole, who was too timid to stand up for herself, feel like she has to accommodate someone who is all too happy to impose his/her own will. <BR> <BR>and as for "only in a fodor's forum": no, if you take off your blinders, you will find there are people who have a different opinion than you just about anywhere.

Couldn't agree more with Julie. Where is it written that everything must be for the convenience of those who want to watch the movie? I'm an aisle girl myself, but I think the person right next to the window in question is the one who gets to operate the shade. What is this "greatest good for greatest number" crap anyhow? How do you know the "greatest number" wants to watch the movie? I personally dislike riding in a cavelike atmosphere, but I realize at least some people want to watch the movie--not, I wouldn't say, based on observation, always the majority of people.

Get OVER yourself.

I always ask for a window seat so I can look out at the scenery. Most of the movies just don't interest me as much. I don't like to keep others from watching them either, so I try to compromise. For example, I flew to Japan once, and while we were flying over Alaska (mountains and snow), I simply could not keep the blind down. What I did was have it up just enough that I could see, and I used the pillow to block the light. I would peak out the window by moving the pillow slightly out of the way, but I would leave the pillow up to block the light. Worked great.

I guess my response above might not work for reading, but in that case I would simply keep it up just enough to see what you are reading. I think if you took a poll, you would find that as many people are not watching any given movie as are watching it.

Hi again everyone.... Glad to at least see there are those who would have understood had I been brave enough to leave it open. (It was ANNOUNCED about closing the blinds, by the way...no one specific asked me) As it was, since my vision is too poor to even see the screen, I just SAT for several hours. The only pleasant part of the trip was when the pilot wanted to point out Greenland to everyone and asked everyone to open their blinds to take a look. I hate to bring attention to myself or point out my visual disability but without light, I just cannot read any print. You cannot tell by looking at me, by the way. My sight deterioration was caused five years ago by retinal detachments in both eyes and for which I was granted disability retirement. I say this because I didn't want it to sound like it's just an inconvenience without the light. It's an impossibility. I'm enjoying your thoughts - all of them.

KEEP IT OPEN!It is your seat, and since you selected a window seat....don't close it unless you want to. I was on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Miami, and the @#$% flight attendant woke me up to TELL me to close the window. I refused, and told her it was my window, and didn't like it closed. What about all the people that stand up in the isle, kids bouncing up and down in the seat, do people ask them to sit when the movie is on.

What no one has thought to consider during your tirades is that there just may be another reason to be considerate and close the blind... I was subjected to the flight from hell for an hour during a cross-country flight because the jerk across the plane from me refused to close the blind when he was asked to, despite that the reason I asked the flight attendent to ask him to (and it was explained to him "why") was because the glare from the sun was shinning directly onto my face! He simply refused because he could. Yes, it's your seat, but if people would take a minute to consider that "we're all in this together", maybe travel rage wouldn't occur so often...

Sandy, <BR> <BR>If I read your post correctly, you were sitting "across the plane" from the window with the shade up. Having the sun in your face for the entire flight would have been a neat trick of geometry and geography -- and apparently no one between you and the "jerk" had a problem. <BR> <BR>And he didn't refuse just because he could; he refused because he wanted the shade open. What if he had, in fact, a reason why he needed the shade open and was too embarrassed? Or just annoyed by someone clear across the plane who wants to control "his" window? If we're all in it together, that means you're in it with him as much as vice versa. <BR> <BR>You seem to assume that the shades are there to be closed and can't imagine that someone else might think they're there to be open. He probably should have tried to figure out a compromise, or the flight attendant should have moved you. But be sure to look in the mirror when you use words like "tirade" and "travel rage."

<BR>By this reasoning the person who sits by the window has control over the blind, so the person on the aisle has control over whether you get out or not???? Come on and grow up...think of others and try to come to an agreement! Poor person in the middle they get nothing! <BR>You buy the seat not everything around you...

Carole said it herself: She's a wimp. I don't understand the people here who are so hostile in their support for her. I prefer to have the shade closed. It's annoying when someone leaves it open but it's not the end of the world -- certainly should not have inspired the kind of venom it has from some of you. The bottom line is that the next time Carole ought to simply speak up rather than suffer in silence only to complain about it later.

Carole, <BR> <BR>When debates get going like this, you have to figure the first few posts give the main points and the rest is squabbling between name-callers. When you read phrases like "grow up" and "hypocrite," you're not getting advice any more, you're getting rants. <BR> <BR>Your question was what to do next time. As calmly as possible, explain that you will lower it a bit but that you require the light. If an attendant becomes involved, you could give more specifics as to why. If things get tetchy, offer to switch seats with someone in a row where having the shade up would cause less of a problem. <BR> <BR>Just remember to stay calm, polite, and know you are completely within your rights.

Thanks Roger, <BR>I think I'll try that next time. I hate to call attention to myself and explain about my inability to see without that light, but at the same time, I was very bored just sitting there for so many hours. My husband was sitting next to me and he had no problem seeing the screen before I was asked by the attendant to close it. I'm often bothered by people who don't think rules apply to THEM and didn't want to be in that category. I would NEVER have acted in a manner other than quiet and calm. Just my nature!

Bring back the ocean liner. Traveling up in the air is just uncivilized. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Travel in the air, just don't travel in steerage -- er, coach.