I’m a 34-year-old man who just flew home from a business trip on a six-hour budget airline flight. Being 6’3”, I paid extra for an aisle seat to have more space. The flight was delayed two hours, and I was completely exhausted after pulling an all-nighter for a major client presentation. As soon as the seatbelt sign turned off, I reclined my seat sharply without checking behind me.

Immediately, a woman behind me cried out, “I can’t breathe!”—I later learned she was eight months pregnant. Frustrated, I snapped, “Then fly first class!” I ignored the man beside me and slept for most of the flight. But as we deplaned, a flight attendant handed me a note. The woman wrote that my seat had pressed into her abdomen and she was in pain. She was flying to visit her terminally ill mother—one last time.

Now I’m torn. My wife says I was wrong and should apologize. My brother says reclining is my right and she overreacted. I can’t stop thinking about her situation. Was I simply exhausted and justified? Or inconsiderate for not checking first?