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The issue of plane etiquette has resurfaced, with the question of whether individuals should relinquish their seats for others.
A post on the popular subreddit “Am I The A**hole?” on Reddit asked a plane passenger to give up her seat for a mother who wanted to sit next to her child.
She stated that she was on a flight to her sister’s wedding and the mother and son kept asking for things from the airport staff. The Reddit user had a middle seat on the plane and the mother and son showed up shortly after she sat down.
“The post stated that the individuals had the window seat and the aisle seat. The woman insisted on sitting next to her son and requested that I sit in the aisle seat so she could be next to him.”
The female passenger expressed her dislike for the aisle seat to the mother and refused to move. She began shouting that she had the right to sit next to her son. The traveller responded politely, offering to switch seats with the son, who had the window seat. However, 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 that moment, a member of the flight crew intervened to ensure that all passengers were seated in their assigned seats. Despite the mother’s desire for retaliation against the Reddit user, she continued to accidentally kick the fellow traveler while her son purposely annoyed her.
“After using the restroom, I believed the situation was resolved as she may have agreed to it. However, upon my return, I found her sitting in my seat and my jacket and bag, which I had left there, were now in the aisle. I called a flight attendant who assisted in getting her back to her assigned seat,” the message 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 of the window seat, but not the aisle.
“Some people purposely book the window and aisle seats hoping that no one will take the middle so they can get the entire row to themselves. Personally, I think this practice is just greedy. I’m willing to bet this is exactly what she did and got pissed off that it backfired. You have no obligation to give up your seat and even gave her an option which she refused – good for you for sticking to your guns!” one commenter wrote.
“This comes up a LOT,” another comment in the woman’s defence read. “If she wanted to sit next to her son, she could have paid extra for seats, or reserved sooner, or at the LEAST she could have requested POLITELY. Your seat is YOUR seat and you are not obligated to switch for any reason.”
A third commenter suggested that the statement should have been “Your lack of preparation does not make it an emergency for me.”
“Clearly not the asshole. You paid for your seat and have the right to sit in it. The woman could have easily reserved seats together if she had been more prepared.”
Source: independent.co.uk
