Flying is a horrible way to travel, but also miraculous. You can cross the entire United States of America in a matter of hours instead of the months it would take in a covered wagon. Maybe that’s why it feels like all the stresses of a year-long journey are crammed into every flight. You gotta pay for convenience somehow, and the main method of torture are your fellow passengers.
A woman named Wendi Williams had a more egregious experience than usual plus video evidence of how horrible it was. In a clip posted to Twitter, a whole adult man can be seen rhythmically punching the back of her seat as he watches videos with earplugs in, sort of like how a child would do:
@BravoAndy Here’s a great jackhole! He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times – HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behavior. The other jackhole is the @AmericanAir flight attendant who reprimanded me and offered him rum! pic.twitter.com/dHeUysrKTu
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 9, 2020
In an interview with Fox News, Williams says she initially reclined her seat and had the man tell her he was eating. She put her chair upright until he finished, then reclined again.
That’s when the punching began. She wrote, “He was angry that I reclined my seat and punched it about 9 times – HARD, at which point I began videoing him, and he resigned to this behavior. The other jackhole is the @AmericanAir flight attendant who reprimanded me and offered him rum!”
When the FA came. She rolled her eyes at me and said, “What?” She then told him it was tight back there and gave him rum! She told me I had to delete the video! It’s against the law to video on a plane. I asked her name & She gave me a Passenger Disturbance Notice! https://t.co/zRwy5JYr9s
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 8, 2020
It is tight in the backseat, and that’s unpleasant. But if you don’t like when people are reclining their seats and are prone to violence, maybe pick another seat while booking your passage? There are a lot of people who think that the man had a right to be angry, but it can’t be comfortable to incessantly punch the back of a chair. His issue isn’t comfort, it’s wanting to control what everyone else does and make them deal with his feelings.
But the issue is still divisive, as everything on the Internet is:
I’m 6’2”, travel extensively, and always pay for the extra leg room. This boy is in the wrong, that’s assault. All the people tweeting “you should have asked to recline first” – I have never seen someone ask if it’s okay.
This is why I don’t fly American anymore too.
— Molly Pitcher (@AmazonMistress) February 12, 2020
Complete rubbish. It’s much more comfortable to recline your seat and they are designed in such a way that they do not affect the person sitting behind. I recline my seat 100% of the time and have no issue with people in front of me reclining the seat which they paid for.
— Nik Radmore (@nikradmore) February 12, 2020
You hit the nail on the head with that one. I think Wendy was wrong. The guy behind her was wrong and the airline attendant was definitely wrong. But he would have never done that If a man had been sitting in the seat.
— TNgirl (@TNgirl31625353) February 13, 2020
You do you. People who recline are hero’s in my book.
— Travis Robinson (@skinzfantrav) February 12, 2020
I rarely recline unless we’re short of shoulder room – it can help by offsetting the seats. If somebody reclines their seat in front of me then you know what I do? Absofuxkinglutely nothing. They don’t have to ask your permission for using the seat capability they paid for.
— (@cinemec) February 12, 2020
There’s literally no inconvenience in airplane seats reclining. Terrible take.
— Steve Hill (@stevehill3096) February 12, 2020
If he doesn’t like reclining seats he should have taken it up with the airline. They recline for a reason and can be used.
— __ (@fit_like_min) February 12, 2020
If he was so tall and needed room, maybe he should pony up the money and get the seat with more leg room. We both would’ve been in jail.
— Eileen Black (@eileenblack) February 12, 2020
Whatever anyone else thinks, Wendi Williams is done playing. She said that the flight attendant sarcastically suggested she call the FBI. So she is going to:
I was contacted via phone by @AmericanAir, they apologized but really didn’t accept any responsibility for the flight attendant’s actions. I will be calling the FBI to press charges against the “man” who mistook me for a punching bag. Anyone who doesn’t like it, I don’t care!
— wendi (@steelersfanOG) February 9, 2020
Wendi is done flying the friendly skies and she is reclining on all your necks.
More of the worst airplane passengers:
- Woman Asks Internet For Advice When Guy Puts His “Stinky Feet” On Her Airplane Armrest
- Woman Thrown Off Plane For Bashing Boyfriend With A Laptop After He “Looked At Other Women”
- 50 People Who Should Be Banned From Airplanes For Life
- There’s A Secret TSA Facebook Group Where Agents Sound-Off About “Idiot” Travelers