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A man is receiving recognition for not switching seats with a pregnant woman during his flight.
A Reddit user, known as u/michaeldonelly, posted on the well-known “Am I The A**hole?” forum asking for input on whether he made a mistake by not giving up his seat to a pregnant woman on a long flight to visit his family for the holidays. The individual explained their solo trip and the effort they put into organizing their flight.
The person stated that they purposely reserved and paid an additional fee for a seat on the aisle in the second to last row. This was due to their medical conditions which may require urgent use of the bathroom.
But, as reported by the traveler, just before he was about to board the plane, a lady requested him to “relinquish her seat so she could have a closer spot to the restroom”. He continued to explain that although he sympathized with the pregnant woman, he didn’t think it was right for him to switch seats since she didn’t appear to be in distress.
“He expressed empathy for her circumstances, considering his own medical condition. However, he believed it was unjust for her to ask him to switch seats that he had intentionally selected and paid for. He also noted that she had not made the effort to reserve an aisle seat beforehand.”
The man stated that the flight attendants did not assist in resolving the situation, despite the pregnant woman’s insistence that he should move. He also mentioned that there were no available seats near the bathroom, but he stood firm in his decision not to move.
The author stated that there were no empty seats in nearby aisles or rows on the fully-booked flight that could have been used for a seat swap. He also mentioned that his family had advised him to inconvenience himself and give up his seat.
“I do not agree with my family’s suggestion,” he stated, in regards to the situation. “I believe that instead of addressing the issue through appropriate channels, both the pregnant woman and flight crew unfairly singled me out.”
The post on Reddit has rapidly gained popularity with over 15,000 upvotes. In the comments, numerous users on Reddit have commended the traveler for standing their ground and reserving their specific seat beforehand. They also discussed how they would handle the situation if they were in the passenger’s shoes with a medical condition.
One person commented that the woman should have either reserved another seat or not gone on the flight. They believed that she assumed someone would give up their seat for her and blamed the flight attendants for not intervening. They suggested that the flight attendants should have instructed her to return to her assigned seat.
As a person who has been pregnant and traveled alone with a toddler, I can confidently say that all passengers have the same chance to reserve seats according to their individual needs and preferences. Another person also agreed, stating that it is not anyone’s concern why you chose to book a certain seat. There is no expectation for you to give up your seat, as the passenger or airline would not compensate you for the cost of prebooking it.
“Someone responded, ‘Well, I actually suffer from incontinence or another bladder-related medical issue, so I need to be close to a restroom.’ Another person added, ‘Honestly, I would simply inform her that I paid extra for this seat and decline her offer.'”
This is not the first instance of a traveler being praised for declining to exchange plane seats. In a Reddit post from earlier this month, a business-class passenger shared their experience of a woman asking them to switch seats with her husband in order to sit next to him. The Reddit user declined the request when they discovered that the husband’s seat was in economy class.
According to a post on Reddit that has since been deleted, a passenger in the business class section shared that a woman was visibly upset when she was not given the seat next to her husband on the plane and couldn’t understand why she was not allowed to sit there.
Several individuals in the comments section of the post came to the defense of the passenger who refused to give up their seat. One comment referred to the woman who requested a seat swap as a “moron” and expressed disbelief in her tactics.
One person stated: “Long-haul first-class tickets are expensive, and I refuse to give up my seat to someone who feels entitled to it. Regardless of whether they cry or not, I will not budge.”
Source: independent.co.uk
