Me: Excuse me sir, please can you remove your headphones and put your seat upright for me? *said with a smile*
Pax: (Grumpy looking man) Glared at me and refused.
Me: I''m afraid we won't be able to take off until you do *still being smiley and pleasant*
Me: Because if we have to evacuate the aircraft you will need to be able to hear my shouted commands. Also having your seatback reclined may impede the escape of the passenger behind you and you willl not be able to adopt the brace position correctly.
Pax: If the plane crashes I'll be dead anyway won't I?
Me: Actually sir, 90% of accidents are survivable.
He did what I asked him and fell asleep. Looking on the PIL he was a silver card frequent flyer...I wonder if he tried to keep his headphones in and seat reclined on all flights?
He seemed quite an unpleasant man. No great loss to the world there!