Passenger Refuses to Trade Window Seat for ‘Inferior’ Spot so Mom Can Sit Next to Toddler During Long Flight From Japan
When flying, many people try to pick the best seat ahead of time that will be the most comfortable for them for the duration of their flight.
Someone recently went viral for sharing that when a mom on a flight asked them if they would switch seats with her so she could sit next to her young child, they refused as they felt her seat was "inferior" to theirs.
The person shared their story via a response to a Reddit thread about plane passengers being "irritating" when they ask others to swap seats.
"Had a woman ask me to change on a TPAC (trans pacific) flight from Japan," the Reddit user commented on the post. "I was bulkhead window and her toddler daughter was in the middle next to me while she was in the middle seat in the row behind me."
The woman supposedly asked them "to switch with her so she could have my window seat (next to her daughter) and I’d take her middle seat a row back."
The passenger did not like the idea, and quickly shut the woman down.
"Hell to the f--k no. Not my problem they didn’t book together," they continued. "Worse is we were surrounded by others from her tour group that she could’ve asked for a three-way trade instead. Or the tour operator. The audacity to ask just me and expect an inferior trade on my side."
Many Reddit users liked the person's comment, but they also questioned how the person fared sitting next to the unattended toddler during the international flight.
"So how was sitting next to someone else's toddler the whole trip though?" one person asked.
"As a parent of a toddler, I’m surprised that you preferred to sit next to someone else’s unaccompanied toddler [vs.] just moving. Sure, someone else could move, but either someone has to move or someone has to sit next to a flying toddler. I honestly don’t know which is more annoying for the other passengers," another commented.
In a follow-up comment, the OP [original poster] added the child didn't make nearly as much of a fuss as the mother.
"The combination of a sleeping pill and the fact that she was very well behaved made it a very pleasant trip. The mother made a nuisance of herself a bit, likely as punishment for me not moving. But once the pill kicked in it was smooth sailing," they wrote.