A woman who got into a row over a plane seat, making a child cry in the process, is now wondering if she was in the wrong.
The 22-year-old solo traveller took to Reddit saying she had bought a window seat on a nine-hour international flight.
When she got on the plane, there was a small girl sitting in the seat she had reserved with her father in the middle seat.
The man said “she’s a child” and pointed at the aisle seat, implying the woman should take that seat.
But the woman insisted on sitting in the window seat she had booked, sending the girl into floods of tears.
The woman said: “Leaving my family this time has been hard and I’ve been crying on and off the entire day. I had a window seat booked for my flight and I was looking forward to it.
“When I got there, a child was sitting in my seat and her dad in the middle seat. I looked at the dad and pointed at the window seat saying that I think it’s my seat, expecting him to move.
“He looked at me and said, “She’s a child” and pointed at the aisle seat suggesting I take it. Perplexed I did and had mentioned this to my family. My dad called me and told me to get my seat because he paid for it and it wasn’t a free seat. I then told the girl’s father this and he asked her to move.
“She started crying and I felt terrible but my dad told me to hold my ground. The girl moved and is sitting in the middle.
“I’m in my seat and I’m also sitting back so she can see out the window. Her dad has made one or two snide remarks about me wanting my seat so I just wanted to know, am I the a*****e for insisting on sitting in my seat?”
Other Reddit users were supportive of the woman, with one saying: “You bought a seat to be able to use it, and the father in this situation knew that the seat he put his child in wasn’t theirs to use. If the father wanted their child to have a window seat, they should have selected one. People choose their seats of preference for all sorts of different reasons and they shouldn’t have to deal with someone just assuming that they can sit there.”
Another agreed, saying: “This same thing happened to me years ago. I was a kid but the child who took my seat was even younger. Instead of asking me, the mom just told her daughter (in earshot of me) that I was nice and would let her have the seat.
“I was too shy to say anything, so I took the aisle seat but was really bothered by it. So I’m glad she stood up for herself and went back and got her seat!”
And one user noted: “Kids don’t get special treatment on planes just because they want to see out the windows.
“They need to learn not everything will go their way sometimes. Your dad paid for that seat so sit where you are meant to on the plane and the dad of the kid can stop bullying you now.”
