A timid flyer is sharing how she took a stand at 30,000 feet.
On Monday, March 17, a traveler took to Reddit to share their small victory that occurred on a recent flight. While traveling home, the passenger chose an aisle seat and was soon approached by a couple who asked if she would be willing to switch seats so they could sit together.
The original poster, or OP, shared that normally she wouldn’t have minded giving up her seat, especially when she’s traveling alone, because she’s shorter and says I “really don’t care as long as it’s not a truly crap seat.”
However, this particular flight gave the passenger a new feeling of empowerment. “This flight I felt differently,” the OP wrote. She went on to ask the couple if her new potential seat was also an aisle seat, which was met with a hesitant, ‘Ummmm, no a middle.’”
This made a switch seemingly flip in the OP, who wrote, “It was then that I felt a shift within me. I looked at this woman and her husband and simply said, ‘No thanks.’” The Redditor noted the woman’s shocked expression as she made her way back to her seat.
“She just stammered as I stood up to let her pass,” recalled the OP, “and then awkwardly dipped into her middle seat beside me while her husband slunk to his middle seat a row back.” Although the OP said she felt “tremendous guilt” at first, that faded quickly when she saw the woman was nearing tears.
Through the space between the seats, the OP wrote, the woman began telling her partner that she “didn’t like being so far away from him” and that the flight would be “absolutely awful” with him not sitting directly next to her.
Despite the couple’s emotional display, the OP felt vindicated and “pretty happy” as she put on her noise-canceling headphones to have a “guilt-free nap.”
Many of the commenters on the thread also applauded the traveler’s decision to not switch seats. “People don’t seem to understand. If you are brave enough to ask, you have to be brave enough to handle a NO,” one comment read. “Good job practicing breaking [your] people pleasing tendencies OP!”
Fellow people pleasers rejoiced in her putting her foot down, writing, “From one recovering people pleaser to another, good job OP! I’m glad you stuck to it and didn’t end up with a s—-y middle seat.” Another added, “Saying no to others is saying yes to yourself.”
Most airlines offer travelers the opportunity to choose their seats while booking their flights to avoid such situations. Travel expert Nicole Campoy Jackson of Fora Travel previously spoke with PEOPLE after a similar scenario prompted a viral conversation stemming from a 2023 Instagram post.
“As much as it’s possible, passengers should be choosing their seats ahead of time for this exact reason,” advised Campoy Jones. “I don’t think that you can board a plane with the expectation of someone leaving their seat for you.”
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