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Comment by chrisseaton | Hacker News Reader

Wow people are petty. I think you’re never going to have a good experience in economy - might as well just go to sleep for the duration and not worry about what anyone else decides to do.

I don’t know why people choose to struggle to eat, read, or watch videos.

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Unfortunately, there is a large group of the population like myself that is cursed to never be able to sleep on an airplane.

That is a problem for a few reasons:

1. It's hard to sleep for all of a 13+ hour flight (North America->Australia).

2. I'm 6 foot 2, and my head doesn't touch the head rest on most planes (even when it's possible to lift up the thing with head flaps on it). It's hard to sleep when your head is not supported.

I probably don't literally sleep the whole time either, but I do still just put on an eye mask, headphones and sit there and zone out, and don't really expect reasonably to be able to achieve anything more than that.

> I don’t know why people choose to struggle to eat, read, or watch videos.

Because a) I can't sleep on planes and have given up after years of attempts and b) I don't want to sleep at times that will mess up my night-time sleep schedule.

You can definitely learn to sleep anywhere at any time and not have it impact your schedule - anyone who has been in the military learns this very quickly, but I'm not sure if I could tell you what the technique is.

You're overgeneralizing. The vast majority of people in the military are quite young. A few developed the habit when they were young. None have significant health problems, or they wouldn't still be in the military. It's a bit different when you're dealing with an older, less fit demographic. Consider the fact that your bubble does not represent the whole world.

I mean, I am young, fit and free of health problems. I sleep great at home, in hotels, in airbnb's and on ultralight backpacking sleeping pads.

If I board a red eye flight after a tiring day, put in my ear plugs, cover my head and close my eyes, I'll just sit for the duration of the flight without being able to fall asleep and arrive at my destination ruined for the next day.

Anecdotally, people in the military who are able to do this are simply operating in a continual state of sleep deprivation, not something I have interest in replicating.

I can't sleep when the window shades are open...

So buy an eye mask and now it is not a problem.

Or just have a bit of consideration and leave the blind down when the people around you are sleeping.

Not everyone finds eye masks comfortable. Different people respond differently to all kinds of stimuli, so "now it is not a problem" is not necessarily true. My wife can't sleep without an eye mask and earplugs, even at home. My daughter can't abide either. Some people can't stand the vibration on a plane, even if they can block out noise. Some people find the seats unbearable. Suggestions are great, but assuming people haven't already heard them or that their outcome would be the same isn't particularly helpful. It comes across as preemptively dismissing other concerns they might have.

If you've got issues that are this particular then I think you just have to accept that an economy-fare ticket is not going to give you the privacy you want and you're going to be uncomfortable. You may have some genuine unique issue making it impossible to sleep with the blind up but someone else may have some genuine unique issue making it impossible to sleep with the blind down. If people have needs this specific you are never going to find a compromise, are you.

I personally have no problem sleeping on planes, even without artificial aids. I just have empathy for others who are less fortunate, and such issues are not at all "particular" or "unique". Try empathy, and while you're at it try reading comprehension.

Yes we should all try to be as considerate to the needs as others as possible. Unfortunately, if you try to rely on others' consideration when they're not required to do so I think you're likely to be disappointed much of the time - the article is talking about the conflict people find when trying.

> and while you're at it try reading comprehension

You're just being personally abusive here - please don't do that.

>Not everyone finds eye masks comfortable.

You can't sleep with the shade up, nor can you sleep with an eye mask?

Too bad. These are your issues, not those of the people around you. How did we get to the point where everyone expects the people around them to bend to their idiosyncrasies?

I'm confused why one poster's response has been generalized to an "everyone".

Also, I don't think this poster was at all saying that anyone should bend to their idiosyncracies, merely pointing out that the situation may not be as simple as "just sleep with an eye mask".

See my response to chrisseaton, who seems to have the same issues you do.

I can't sleep with an eyemask or ear plugs, hence I'll sleep with a blanket over my head and headphones on playing non-stimulating music - and that's in business class.

I can't sleep on my back, so I can only sleep in a window seat.

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