Have you heard about the Knee Defender? It's a $20 gadget that airline passengers can clip on to their seat tray. When in place, it prevents the person in front of you from reclining in their seat. The device became famous when it caused a disagreement between two travelers on a flight from Newark to Denver. Things got so unruly the plane was forced to land in Chicago so the rowdy patrons could be ejected and dealt with appropriately.
Now, guess what happened when that story broke? Right, traffic to the Knee Defender website was such that it overwhelmed the servers and knocked the site offline for a while. Also, they sold a shit ton of Knee Defenders.
GadgetDuck.com
It's the size of a key! A huge, unwieldy, thick gray plastic key!
Think about what that means. People all around this country, perhaps around the world, read a story about an incendiary device capable of sparking flight-diverting battles in the sky and, without hesitation, decided to pick up a war machine of their very own.
Conflict is coming to the skies, and if you ask me, it's long overdue, because here's the thing -- you're a goddamn monster if you recline in your seat on an airplane. In my perfect version of the world, seats that recline would be banned on most flights. Is that extra 15 degrees of recline really helping you sleep? Probably not. Meanwhile, the person behind you has a few inches of personal space taken away in an environment where inches can determine whether you carry your belongings on the flight with you or if they get put on the wrong plane and rerouted to New Jersey.
United.com
Coming soon to an episode of Doctor Who near you!
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