There were A-hole flyers in pre 9/11 times too. I know because I was one.
Little known fact from BITD; small, non-structural skin cracks on airplanes were marked with yellow grease pencils, usually a circle to indicate a crack tip with a line leading back to the point of origin. These marks were made by inspectors after each flight and when crack length or density reached a threshold, that skin panel was replaced.
I used to point out those crack marks to my seatmates, especially the nervous looking ones, along with comments like "Ooh! I don't think they're supposed to let them get that long." Got plenty of empty seats next to me that way.
FWIW, airlines no longer use visible crack indicators like that.