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The issue of plane etiquette resurfaces with the question of whether individuals should offer their seats to others.
A recent Reddit post on the well-known “Am I The A**hole?” subreddit asked a plane passenger to relinquish her seat for a mother who wanted to be seated next to her child.
The Reddit user shared that they were on a flight across the country to attend their sister’s wedding. However, the mother and son they were traveling with were constantly making requests from the airport staff. The user had a middle seat on the plane and the mother and son joined them shortly after they sat down.
The post stated that the woman insisted on sitting next to her son, while the author was relegated to the aisle seat.
The woman expressed to the mother that she was uncomfortable sitting in the aisle seat and refused to switch seats. The woman became upset, claiming she had the right to sit next to her son. The traveller offered to switch seats with the son who was sitting in the window seat, but the woman continued to yell, insisting that she needed the seat and that her son should not have to give up his seat as he was a child and deserved the window seat.
At this juncture, a member of the flight staff intervened to ensure that all passengers were seated in their designated seats. Despite the mother’s desire for retribution against the Reddit user, she continued to accidentally kick the fellow traveler and her son intentionally annoyed her.
“When I went to use the restroom, I believed the situation was resolved as she may have accepted it. However, upon my return, she was sitting in my seat and had thrown my jacket and bag, which I had left there, into the aisle. I alerted a flight attendant and they instructed her to return to her designated seat,” the post stated.
After the post was shared, numerous individuals commented in support of her refusal to change seats. Others pointed out that she did offer the mother the choice to sit in the window seat, but not in the aisle.
“I believe there are individuals who intentionally reserve the window and aisle seats, hoping that nobody will choose the middle seat so they can have the entire row to themselves. In my opinion, this behavior is selfish. My guess is that this is exactly what she did and became upset when it didn’t work out. You are not obligated to give up your seat and you even offered her an alternative, which she declined – well done for standing your ground!” a commenter expressed.
“I see this situation frequently,” another comment stated in support of the woman. “If she wished to sit next to her son, she could have paid extra for designated seats, made a reservation earlier, or at least asked politely. Your assigned seat is yours and you are not obligated to change it for any reason.”
One person commented, “You should have responded with ‘your lack of readiness does not mean I have to treat it as an emergency.'”
“Clearly, the OP (original poster) is not the asshole. They paid for their seat and have the right to occupy it. The other woman could have easily reserved adjacent seats if she had been more organized.”
The origin of this text is the Independent, a British news website.
