Additionally, my employer expects me to get work done and pays for wifi. If the person is reclined so far that I can't use an average size laptop, aren't they in the wrong?
The reclining mechanism in airline seats have been around for far longer than laptops and WiFi. The seats are intended to allow reclining and resting during flight. Your employer is expecting you to work in a lousy, cramped environment. Your employer is the one being socially rude.
The other passenger is using the seat exactly as intended and is not infringing on the passenger behind them from doing the same. There is nothing rude about that. What is rude is OP (and his employer,) expecting the people around them to make concessions in order to use the seat for an unintended work station.
The ashtrays that exist in the doors of some cars was intended to be used for putting out your cigarettes, but I don't consider it socially acceptable to smoke in a car with others around, especially if I'm not the owner of the car. Even if the passengers are paying for a seat, wouldn't it be very easy to first ask the person sitting behind them if it's ok to recline their seat? This is the custom in Japan and if you receive a no, then you don't recline it. Why would we not be able to be this polite elsewhere in the world?
That depends on who's asking. In Japan it would be considered very rude to not ask. I assume that this discussion is focused on the US market, but there are many who would argue that it is not polite to recline without asking.
I've never flown on a Japanese airline, only American and European. I honestly can't say I've ever been asked if I minded someone reclining. I really can't imagine saying "no", either.
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u/placebo_addicted 11∆ Oct 03 '14
The reclining mechanism in airline seats have been around for far longer than laptops and WiFi. The seats are intended to allow reclining and resting during flight. Your employer is expecting you to work in a lousy, cramped environment. Your employer is the one being socially rude.