We’d all be more laid-back if fellow travellers sat up straight

Fans of the English soaps will forever remember Ricky, the Butcher boy whose role in life appeared for so long to involve nothing more exacting than playing the part of a punch bag for his mouthy missus, Bianca.

But eventually even the mouse will roar – and Ricky, or actor Sid Owen to be precise, was kicked off a long-haul flight recently after complaining a little too vociferously to the passenger in front of him over that person’s insistence on reclining his seat.

Obviously bad behaviour cannot be tolerated and clearly contretemps on airplanes are viewed with more alarm in the current environment than ever before – but in this case Ricky was wronged.

Because for the life of me, I’ve never understood why airline seats can be pushed back in the first place.

It doesn’t make life a whole lot more comfortable for the recliner, but it seriously impinges on the shade and wellbeing of the recipient of the reclined seat, seated in the row behind.

In other words, the advantage gained by the person pushing their seat back doesn’t justify the imposition on the person behind who now has their ready-meal within six inches of their face at all times during the flight.

Try opening your laptop top when the seat in front of you has been pushed back – and as for working your way out from the window seat, past reclined seats, to go to the toilet . . . unless you’re a limbo dancer, you’re best waiting until you arrive at your destination.

And have you ever tried watching a movie on the tiny screen in front of you when your neighbour has slipped his seat back onto your lap?

These screens make it difficult to see the movie anyway because they appear to pre-date modern technology – but it’s nigh on impossible once your space has been invaded by a fellow traveller in full recline.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.