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There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of boarding a plane and finding rows of unoccupied seats. It means you have successfully avoided the overcrowded chaos of a fully booked flight and can enjoy some peace and quiet.
However, what occurs if you are among a small group of individuals, spanning across the aircraft, and another passenger chooses to sit directly behind you?
This specific situation has incited discussion following a post on X, which showed a man sitting in an almost vacant plane with another passenger sitting directly behind him. The post quickly became popular, raking in approximately 37 million views.
The post was put up by Anthony Thomas, a successful chef, but it is unclear if it is actually him in the picture.
“Picture the convenience of getting on a flight with just two other passengers. Out of all the available seats, he chose to sit in that one,” he wrote alongside the photo.
Numerous X users appeared to concur. The comments were overflowing with individuals perplexed by the other passenger’s choice to sit directly behind the other man.
One person compared the experience of sitting closely to another passenger to when someone parks next to you in a nearly empty parking lot, while another mentioned it occurs frequently on trains.
Another user commented that the other passenger sitting in the back of the plane, whose head is visible, understood the instructions.
On the contrary, some individuals sided with the unidentified passenger. A commenter suggested that they could have simply been waiting to depart before searching for a more comfortable seat, stating, “I typically go to my assigned seat first before seeking out a vacant one.”
In this case, it seems that the flight in question is operated by Southwest, which has a policy of open seating. However, other airlines may still require you to choose a specific seat.
A different user suggested that the passenger may not enjoy flying, theorizing that they may have “fear or unease about planes/flying & felt more secure being near another person.”
Although each airline has its own policies, passengers who select their seats online prior to their flight may have a specific purpose for doing so.
“I choose my seat at the time of booking my flight. Even if the flight is empty and I end up sitting behind you, it doesn’t change the fact that I wanted that specific seat,” stated a user.
As the discussion in the comment section about whether the passenger displayed appropriate flight behavior continued, a different user considered potential activities that one might attempt on an unoccupied flight.
I definitely wouldn’t be sitting in economy. I would have requested to sit in First Class.
Source: independent.co.uk
