During a recent journey, a plane passenger decided to teach another passenger a lesson about seat swapping.
The passenger, Fit-Calligrapher9298 on Reddit, shared one of their favorite seat switching anecdotes in a recent post titled, “She was just trying to be helpful, until…”
To establish the scene, the user said how they were sitting in an aisle seat in one row, with another woman sitting exactly next to them. When the woman spotted a family having difficulties with their seats, she approached the passenger and asked a question.
“She turns to me and says the guy next to her (in the center seat) would love to sit next to his family (wife and daughter in the middle, window seat next to me). ‘Would you be willing to assist them out by swapping seats?'”
The passenger described how they originally “smiled” when given the question. They then describe how the conversation reportedly proceeded.
“Sure! So you’ll take the husband’s center seat, and I’ll take yours,” the passenger alleges they said.
After the mother countered that the family simply wanted to sit together, the passenger repeated the same response: “Sure!” I’m happy to switch with you. So you take his seat, and I will take yours.”
The user describes how they could see “confusion set in” as the woman’s “brow furrowed,” followed by “the glorious moment when that lightbulb goes off” as she recognized what the passenger was saying.
“Shaking her head violently and frowning, she says, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to give up my seat,'” they write of the woman’s response.
The passenger, pleased with their accomplishment in teaching the traveler about seat shifting, detailed what they did next.
“I relax in my seat, smugly smiling, believing my duty here is complete. They conclude, “By saying yes to her, I forced her to say no.”
Many Reddit users praised the original poster (OP) in the comments section.
“That was the perfect lesson. “Don’t request a change that makes me worse off,” one person remarked, with another adding, “Sounds like this lady wanted the buzz of doing something ‘good’ without actually having to do anything herself.”
Another person commented, “That is quite possibly the best response I’ve seen to something like this yet,” with three applauding emojis.
When it comes to seat swapping, travelers should never assume that other passengers would be willing to switch, according to travel expert, writer, and counselor Nicole Campoy Jackson.
“Generally speaking, don’t board a plane expecting passengers to shift for you, especially if your seat is not as comfortable as (or more than) theirs,” Jackson once told PEOPLE.
She also suggested that it is always advisable to contact a flight attendant if a passenger needs assistance resolving a seat swapping or stealing scenario because they have access to more information than passengers.
“I am always in the camp of getting a flight attendant involved for sticky in-flight situations,” she told me. “Tensions run high while we’re flying, and they’d know if there was another aisle seat or a different solution to this dilemma. They have more context than we do, as passengers.”
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