A woman was approached by a couple with two children who asked her if she’d swap seats with them to allow them to sit together but she refused – her colleagues now think she was in the wrong
A woman has faced criticism after refusing to give up her plane seat for a child – but she’s standing her ground. Plane seat etiquette can cause debates, with many passengers holding strong opinions on what’s appropriate and polite behaviour.
When families board a plane, some passengers can be apprehensive about the children’s potential behaviour as they’re less able to regulate their emotions and actions. When parents ensure their children are respectful and considerate of others, fellow passengers are more likely to be understanding of any issues that may arise.
One woman faced the wrath of a mother, as well as her own co-workers, after she refused to give up the seat she paid extra for. After her colleague who she was travelling with informed their co-workers of the situation, she found herself branded the “office villain”.
On Reddit, she explained: “I booked months ahead and paid 58 extra for an aisle in the quiet section near the front. I am small but my back hates being jammed in the middle, so I save for good seats.”
The woman was keen to get some sleep on the flight as, despite the seven hour flight, she had to go and meet a work client mere hours after landing. When she was seated and getting comfortable, “a couple and two kids” who had boarded “late” approached her and asked if she would “swap” seats to allow the family to sit together.
The dad told her: “We have a six-year-old and a toddler, you can take 32B.” But 32B was a middle seat near the back of the plane, by the toilets. The woman told them “no” and pointed out she specifically “chose and paid for this seat”. The parents were undeterred though and the mum told her: “It’s just one seat, be human”.
But the woman still refused. A member of the cabin crew then pointed out passengers aren’t required to swap seats and asked the family to take their assigned seats. They did so, with the dad sitting across the aisle with one child and the mum sitting behind the woman with their other child.
It didn’t stop there, though. The woman was trying to sleep when she was “poked” by the child, who had taken to “running cars on [her] armrest” while the mum filmed her.
She asked the mum to stop filming her without her consent but she refused. The dad then said: “Wow, some people are so rude to children”.
Feeling “hot and shaky”, the woman pressed the call button to have a cabin crew member come and assist. They “backed [her] up and asked” the mum to stop filming, which she finally agreed to.
For the first hour of the flight, the child kicked the back of the woman’s seat – “gentle but constant” – and when she asked for it to stop, the mother said he was “only a child” and pushed again for her to switch seats. When she refused, the mum “muttered that single women don’t understand family life.”
The woman added: “On Monday at work, a co-worker who was on the same flight tells people I refused to help a family. Suddenly I’m the ice queen of accounting. One guy says if you don’t want to help kids, don’t fly.
“Another says I should be more flexible since I don’t have responsibilities at home. I said my responsibility is the body I live in and the job I had to do 5 hours after landing.”
The woman said she would’ve swapped for an equal seat but added: “I am not giving up sleep and back health for a middle [seat] next to the toilet because someone else did not plan.”
Fellow Reddit users agreed the family, and the woman’s colleagues, were being unreasonable.
