A woman has been second-guessing her response after a man asked her to switch plane seats so his son could look out of the window – especially after her friends took the dad’s side
A woman has been praised for refusing to swap plane seats so a seven-year-old boy could look out the window during a flight.
The 27-year-old explained how she has lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks healthy tissues, and makes sure to pre-book a window seat because of this to make her flights more comfortable.
She said on Reddit: “I always pay extra for a window seat upfront so I don’t bother anyone and can sleep the whole time. I have chronic pain and my pain meds make me sleepy.” But shortly after boarding her six-hour flight, the man sitting next to her asked whether she’d swap seats for his seven-year-old son.
He shared how his boy wanted to look out of the plane window as it was his first flight and he’d been looking forward to the views. She said: “I told him no and that I paid extra to have this specific seat. He said that it’s his sons first airplane ride and that he would really like to look out the window.
“So I said; I’ll keep the window open for him then as I have an eye mask I can wear,” she wrote. “He said I was being difficult and to just let him switch my seats. So I asked if he would pay the price I did and he said I’m being ridiculous. I put my headphones in and ignored the father.”
However, the child spend the entire six hours complaining about her refusal to swap seats and kept tapping her to again ask whether she’d switch. She added: “I repeatedly said no. It became such an issue the flight attendant came over. She even asked me to switch seats to keep peace but I stuck to my guns.
“I told a couple of my friends with kids this story and they said I was unreasonable.” Seeking other opinions, she has taken to social media to ask users whether they agree with her or with her friends.
In response, one user said: “Anytime somebody starts badgering you about seat switching, immediately hit your flight attendant call button. Make it clear to the flight attendant that you will be sitting in the seat that you paid for and you need them to intervene with the passenger harassing you about that.
“Don’t engage with the passenger. Ever. Lessons learned for next time. Your friends suck.” Another user added: “You also don’t need to qualify why you wanted that seat. You chose it and you paid for it – and the reason is nobody’s business but yours. If this father wanted his son to have a window seat so badly, he could have chosen and paid for one. Entitled parents unfortunately breed entitled kids. I’m sorry that you had to experience that and that the crew were so unhelpful.”
A third user also chimed in: “If the dad wanted his son to have a window seat so badly, dad should’ve paid for one. Kid needs to hear ‘no’ more often. He’s already learnt to strop get his way. Good for you for keeping the seat you paid for and had a medical need for.”
