Airplane passenger’s furious encounter with seat stealer goes viral.
The passenger, who was flying from New York to Atlanta on Nov. 25, upgraded to a “great” window seat with “tons of legroom” before the flight, according to a Reddit post by the username Confident_Junket_181.
After boarding the plane and heading to their queue, they noticed something was wrong.
“I get to the row and see a guy in an aisle seat, empty middle seat, a guy with headphones in my window seat is faking a nap,” the user writes. “I say ‘you’re in my place’ out loud thinking he should probably be in the middle.”
Mom asks fellow passenger to switch from Economy Plus to bus so she can sit with son, then cries when told no
The row of seats on the plane.
DuKay/Getty
When the passenger called out the stranger, they claim the man then “acted confused”, prompting an aisle seat passenger to step in, asking the napper for his seat number and making the same claim that he should probably be in the middle.
Instead, the redditor says, “The guy sitting by the window stands up and says, ‘My ticket is in the back.'”
After the seat stealer started “jumping out of line” to get to his actual seat, the user recalls how a passing passenger got really angry.
“A guy passing by starts loudly berating the seat stealer saying, ‘This isn’t a bus, you don’t just sit where you want’ and ‘Who does that? This is a full flight, did you think no one would notice’, etc.”
Resident says neighbor Karen’s yoga classes have crept onto his lawn, which she calls ‘common nature’: ‘Am I exaggerating?’
Two men are arguing on a plane.
Fotodisk/Getty
Reflecting on the standoff, a passenger on the plane says they were “so grateful” that their seatmate spoke up, adding that “there was no way I was going to give that seat up.”
Tons of Redditors took to the comments to share their thoughts on the bizarre incident.
“Seat stealers should be banned from flights,” wrote one person. “It’s so obvious when you’re stealing a seat versus accidentally sitting in the wrong seat.”
Another user echoed: “Pirates like these should be banned from flying. Duration of ban based on degree of disrespect.”
One person sympathized with passengers trying to switch seats after everyone had boarded the plane, but agreed that outright theft was “simply stupid and classless”.
“I can kind of understand someone moving to an open row after the doors close or something, but for them to just board and sit in a random seat, like the seat owner will do when they show up? A seat stealer sure doesn’t think someone’s just going to walk away or something.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Travel expert, writer and consultant Nicole Campoy Jackson previously explained to PEOPLE that travelers should never expect to be able to switch seats on a plane with other passengers.
“Generally speaking, don’t board a plane expecting passengers to move for you, especially if your seat isn’t as comfortable as (or more than) theirs,” she advised.
Jackson also noted that it’s always best to communicate with a flight attendant if they need help with a seat swap or theft situation because they have access to more information than passengers.
“I’m always in favor of involving flight attendants in awkward situations during the flight,” she said. “Tensions are high when we travel, and they would know, for example, if there is another aisle seat or another solution to this problem. They have more context than us travelers.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education