On one trip, I just came right out and said to the guy who reclined his seat in front of me all the way back "Why don't you just lie down in my lap?" On another one, the man and woman in the row in front had already managed to save an empty seat between them, but then the man reclined his window seat and the one in between so that he could talk to his friend who was sitting across the aisle and one row BEHIND me! When I objected both guys responded that they paid for their seats and could do anything they wanted. And forget the flight attendants. They say they can do nothing.

Oh, and there are the men (ALWAYS MEN) who, sitting in the middle seat, think they're entitled to arm rests on both sides of their seat. More often than not, they also spread their legs beyond the space provided by the width of their seat, too. And I wind up leaning out into the aisle, getting bumped into by passersby going to the bathroom and, of course, the flight attendants serving drinks. Since I bruise easily, plane trips often result in several black and blue marks on my arms and/or legs. Those sitting in the window seat are forced to hug the wall!

Frankly, I think all new planes should have seats that can only tilt back an inch or so, and no more. And the armrest on the aisle seat should be able to be pushed up and out of the way for entering and exiting the row, which would prevent other incidents of bruising for folks like me.

Oh, and I think there ought to be a law that requires one full row of seats to remain empty in case of a medical emergency that requires someone to lie down. And, upon landing at our destination, all of the passengers should not be required to remain on board while someone with a MINOR medical emergency receives attention.

(Yes, yes, I do acknowledge that there are some things you can't do anything about, short of giving staff mildly-shocking tasers to stop annoying--actually, ridiculous is a better word--situations like the man sitting behind us who had a sneezing marathon and his companion kept saying "God bless you"..."God bless you"...."God bless you"...."God bless you"...."God bless you"...."God bless you"...."God bless you"...."God bless you"....and on and on and one.........)

The latter reminds me of a Janet Evanovich novel where the brother-in-law starts to talk and can't stop, annoying everyone at the dinner table. Joe, the boyfriend who is also a cop, says to the group "Do you want me to shoot him?"

....and I will definitely try to find that button on my next trip! As to being a shorty, so am I. So I grab a couple of pillows (or, for those airlines that no longer have pillows, a blanket---or a rolled up sweater or jacket will do) to put behind my lower back and get some degree of comfort in otherwise uncomfortable seats. But, just to have another stab at the recliner issue: just because the seats are made to recline doesn't mean you HAVE to recline. In my opinion, the reclining seats are a throwback to the days -- eons ago -- when airlines were into comfort, there was more space between the rows of seats, and reclining the seat didn't mean you shoved the tray table into the stomach of the person behind you. In fact, when they used to serve food (you see, I'm OLD) I believe the flight attendants (called stewardesses then) would ask the person in front of you to put his seat into an upright position so the food and drink could fit on the tray table. In those days, people dressed up to fly. And they weren't very rude----but, then, I could be having a memory problem on that last one!

...that geraniums die from too much water. But if they do, then simply rip them out of the ground the throw them at passing-by Republicans as they make their way to their convention, shouting Here's a dead flower in your face! It's the least you can do to them for helping to kill our hope in this country.

....OR, AT LEAST, THE WISDOM OF OLD-TIME CAMPAIGNS, IS THAT YOU SHOULDN'T MENTION YOUR OPPONENT'S NAME TOO FREQUENTLY (OR AT ALL!) IN YOUR ADS. EVERY TIME THE MC CAIN CAMPAIGN (OR ITS SUPPORTERS) RUNS AN AD LIKE THIS, I THINK IT CREATES A VOTE FOR OBAMA.

Enough said!