On a long overnight flight from New York to London, I settled in with a stack of books, ready for a quiet trip. Next to me sat a teenage boy watching loud action shows on his tablet. Despite wearing headphones, the sound was blaring. I politely asked him to turn it down \u2014 twice. He smiled and said \u201csure,\u201d but never did. His mom sat on the aisle, acting like she owned the row. She didn\u2019t say a word about the noise \u2014 just flipped through her magazine like I didn\u2019t exist. Later,<\/p>\n
I opened the window shade to get some natural light for reading. Without a word, the teen slammed it shut. I opened it again \u2014 he shut it again. This silent tug-of-war continued until his mom finally snapped,\u00a0\u201cHe\u2019s trying to sleep! Just leave it down!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0I calmly replied,\u00a0\u201cAnd I\u2019m trying to read.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0She huffed and jabbed the call button. When the flight attendant arrived,<\/p>\n
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