Plane Passenger Says Seatmate Refused to Stand When He Went to Bathroom, Then Complained About 'Personal Space'

An airline passenger details what he calls a “passive aggressive” encounter with his fellow passenger on a recent flight – but who’s at fault?

The flier, who described himself as a “big guy,” explained that he specifically chose a window seat to be more comfortable on the long trip in a recount of the incident on Reddit. Although he says his neighbor seemed “nice” at first, the situation became “complicated” when he needed to go to the bathroom.

“Nature called several times during the flight, and let’s just say that squeezing through that tight space is an exercise in contortionism at the best of times,” he writes. “The woman in the middle seat politely refused to get up whenever I needed to go to the bathroom.”

Meanwhile, he says his aisle seat neighbor “was very accommodating and would get up every time I or the lady in the middle needed to get up.”

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Passengers sitting on the plane.

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He continues: “Now, I understand. No one wants some sweaty guy walking past them. I tried to reduce the contact as much as possible, I literally pulled my gut in and held my breath as if I was under water. But even with all these convulsions, there was an inevitable erasure of the past.”

Tensions began to rise when his seatmate made a “passive aggressive comment about personal space and how I made her feel uncomfortable during the flight,” the passenger claimed.

“Honestly, I felt terrible,” he admits. “I didn’t want to make her feel that way, but what else was I supposed to do? Hold for 8 hours? Ask her to physically stand up? (Since she didn’t keep getting up and indicating that I should snuggle up, I had no reason to think it bothered her too much.)”

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After asking fellow Redditors if he was wrong in this situation, many users backed him up.

“You’re prettier than me,” one person wrote, “my response would have been, “Ma’am, you refused to get up, so my only options were to either invade your personal space or pee on you. I’m sorry you think I chose the wrong option.”

Echoing a similar sentiment, another added: “If you choose anything other than a window seat on the plane, you have to be prepared to stand up. That’s the unfortunate reality of modern airplanes.”

One user agreed with the passenger in the middle seat about refusing to get up, but they say they are aware that it comes at a price.

“I hate having to stand up during flights so I just get out of the way and understand that people will be in my bladder,” they wrote. “I had a real man crawling on me while I was sleeping. Occurs.”

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A passenger is looking for a flight attendant.

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PEOPLE previously reached out to travel expert Nicole Campoy Jackson to weigh in on a common travel etiquette problem.

“In my opinion, passengers in aisle seats should expect to be woken up by their fellow passengers at some point on any flight. That’s the default. When you’re the passenger at the window, a few gentle touches and an “excuse me” will hopefully do the trick. If not, a push and a louder ‘excuse me’.”

She adds, “If you’re still stuck and the aisle passenger seat is really crazy, that might be a good time to hit the flight attendant call button and ask for help.”

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Jackson notes that it’s important to be mindful of your fellow passengers as you exit the line.

“Instead of leaning on the back of the passenger seat in front of you for balance as you get out, lean back on your seat because it doesn’t bother anyone or move,” she advises.

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Source: HIS Education