“Eliminate Those Buttons!” Larry David Rants About Reclining Seats on an Airplane

I don’t watch a lot of TV but there are a couple of shows I really love … Ted Lasso and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Curb Your Enthusiasm is almost at the end of the show’s twelfth and final season and it’s hilarious. RELATED: United Airlines Passenger Aggressively Kicks Seat in Front Because Passenger Reclined – Airline Investigating the Incident

I remember the first time I watched it. It was just before the pandemic on a Delta flight. They had the first four episodes of Season 9 and when I landed in L.A. just before midnight, I woke my wife up and said, “You have to watch this!” Definitely not something I’ve ever done before.

The show is created by and stars Larry David, who used to write for SNL and later created Seinfeld. He says all the quiet things out loud. In an interview with MSNBC, Larry said that the character he plays is an alter ego: “That character is doing everything I want to do in my life. He’s my hero, that guy. I love that guy.”

Since this is the last season, Larry is doing the talk show rounds and he was just on The Rich Eisen Show. (BTW: I met Rich once in LAX. We have a mutual friend and he was super nice and asked me for tips about Gibraltar).

Because Larry’s character has the incredible nerve to call people out in all kinds of aggravating social situations, Rich asked him to play judge “for what is the appropriate thing for a human to do in an open society.” Here’s a bit of their conversation:

Rich:
“I can’t believe this has become a controversial subject matter because it blows me away … but is it inappropriate to recline your seat on an airplane?

Larry:
“100%! You do not go back into a person’s lap. You don’t do that. It’s totally so inconsiderate. One notch. I’ll give you one notch, that’s it. Nobody wants to see your head. Okay. There’s not enough room as it is.”

Rich:
“I actually, as soon as the plane’s taking off, I use the ascent, the gravitational push of the ascent, to help me recline as fast as possible.”

Larry:
“It’s all about consideration and you know what you’re not doing? You’re not golden ruling it. You’re not doing unto the person behind you as you would want the person in front of you doing unto you.”

Watch the seven-minute video below:

I agree with Larry and sometimes wish I had the nerve to speak up as much as he does. But these days, you have to be worried about how someone may react. I don’t want to be at the center of a viral video. But I do somewhat disagree with Larry on this topic. First of all, I try not recline if it’s a short flight or if the person behind me doesn’t have a lot of legroom. However, if the person in front of me reclines, I have no choice but to recline too. But when I do recline, I always turn around to give the passenger behind me a heads up, just in case they’re working on their laptop or eating food. Here’s more on the topic: Should You Recline Your Flight on a Short Flight?

What’s your take?

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