'AITA for refusing to give up my plane seat(s) and being crass about it?'
"AITA for refusing to give up my plane seat(s) and being crass about it?"
I (36F) flew home this week and got an early flight this morning so I would be able to do laundry tomorrow and relax before going back to work.
I am a plus-size woman (the cause was finally diagnosed after three years of weight gain, I've lost 4 lbs in the last four weeks!), so when I booked my flights, I spent extra money and booked two adjacent seats so whoever had the third seat in my row would not have to be squished up in my business.
Flying out was great, the other person in my row was cool and we shared the middle seat and snacks and played Pokemon on our switches and visited each other's animal crossing islands. Flying home was where things became a bit more problematic.
I was settled into my pair of seats, and a gentleman tried to sit his daughter (~12, not a waif, nor was her overweight dad) in my middle seat, where my bum is taking up a good third of the middle seat. I said politely, 'I'm sorry, that seat is booked. Your daughter can't sit there,' while putting my hand on the other 2/3s of the seat.
He immediately complained that he hadn't been able to book seats together and he needed to sit with his daughter. I shrugged and said I was sorry, but it wasn't my problem, that wasn't his seat.
He called over a stewardess to complain. I explained my situation and showed my pair of tickets, and the flight attendant offered to comp my extra seat. I said no thank you, I needed the extra room and waved to where my bum was partway into the middle seat.
The stewardess came back ten minutes later with a wife from a couple who agreed to switch seats so the man could sit with his daughter. But not without attempting to shame me for not be willing to help out a dad in need and commenting about how selfish I was.
I said, 'I booked early, and I booked two seats together because to put it plainly, I'm fat. His two seats were separate seats. How exactly do you propose I split my fat ass in half to sit one half in one seat and the other half in his other seat?'
The woman turned red in the face and bitched at me for being 'disgusting', I replied that his lack of planning was not my emergency, and she scowled at me for the entire rest of the flight.
When I told my folks about it after I landed, my dad thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, but my mom yelled at him for encouraging him and said I should have been more willing to help out a dad with a kid when I had two seats. So I want to know, AITA?
Here's what people had to say in the comments:
Karnataka11 writes:
NTA. These airplane issue are getting out of hand. It’s very simple. You book a seat, you are entitled to it. People can ask you to change but if you say no, that’s it. End of story. I don’t understand why people find this basic rule so hard to comprehend.
ItsCharlieDay writes:
100%, OP couldn't win. I thought it was awesome she was considerate enough to buy extra seat. You know the father/daughter would have probably complained about space later if you gave up seat.
Brennan_Boru1031 writes:
Exactly and the real A H here is the airlines for using seats a good percentage of the flying population can't sit in comfortably in order to squeeze out more and more profit.
chaoskitti88 writes:
NTA. I would have clapped for you if I was there.
People think they get entitlements just because they have kids.
SarahNaGig writes:
You're NTA, you're f**kin awesome and funny. I wish more people would find such appropriate words. The Stewardess was WAY out of line and I'd be complaining to the airline about her.
Luka_Firoth writes:
Queen! You are not the a**#ole. A lack of planning on their part does not constitute an emergency on your part. Good for you for speaking up for yourself and not back down. You are awesome and my hero!
Irishlass83 writes:
The 12 year old girl can sit by herself. I’ve been flying since I was a baby, and at age 12, I was fully capable of sitting by myself. FYI, it’s not the 1950s, they are called “flight attendants”, and their main job is safety, not dealing with all y’all’s drama.