Woman sparks huge plane etiquette debate after middle seat passenger slammed her as 'rude'
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty/BenPipePhotography
People online are debating whether a woman is truly acting ‘entitled’ after encountering an issue on board a flight.
There’s just something about flying that can make even the calmest person a little cranky. You’ve got the packing, the timings, the busy airport, and then the long flight to sit through, and all of it is a lot more hassle than we’d like to endure.
Sometimes, people snap, and for good reason. Meanwhile, other times people snap, and it leaves the internet feeling some way- just like this.
A recent traveller took to Reddit's 'Am I the A**hole' thread to ask for their opinion on a particularly tricky passenger they'd encountered while on a flight.
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And there's one thing Redditors love more than discussing what constitutes correct plane etiquette.
The social media user began by explaining how she and her sister had booked window and aisle seats for themselves because they preferred them, which left the middle seat occupied by someone else.
While the three were getting ready for the journey ahead, the woman asked if the siblings would like to 'change seats' to which they 'politely declined'.
They added that the issue began, however, when passing ‘a small snack bag’ to her sister as she ‘settled’ in her seat.
To this, the stranger asked her: “Are you two going to be rude and pass things to each other all flight?”
She said that she ‘politely explained that I asked my sister to hold one thing’, and when she had buckled in, she would take back the object, as her sister had plans to catch a few winks while she 'would watch her iPad'.
But the stranger would not let it go, and allegedly ‘continued raising her voice saying how rude we were,’ believing that their refusal to move had 'really upset' the lady.
She even apparently went as far as to annoy them, as the poster shared that she ‘continued to complain and even held my sister up by letting a few extra rows go first’.
Firstly, a few people were quick to defend the lady after having been in similar situations. After all, who wants someone passing objects around or over them while they’re trying to enjoy their flight?
One person said: “I mean, it would be extremely annoying to sit in the middle and have people talk and pass stuff over the top of you constantly. Once or here and there is totally fine. She probably thought you were going to keep doing it and snapped prematurely.
"Once you explained and didn’t keep bugging her, it’s completely on her and continuing to be rude was not warranted. Some people are just grouchy.”
Another said that the poster could have just kept the snack bag to herself as she got settled in the seat, telling them that ‘it’s never just one little thing’ that starts issues like this.
Others were more than happy to call the stranger an a**hole, as someone else wrote: “She was cranky.”
A fourth commenter said: “She wanted a window or aisle seat without the extra cost, & was trying to shame you into giving it to her.
"Entitled, indeed.”