A man has been praised for refusing to swap seats so a seven-year-old boy could sit next to his dad on their flight.
The 29-year-old explained how he was travelling on a short 70-minute flight – and made sure to pre-book a window seat on the plane so he could enjoy the view on the journey.
But when he was searching for his seat, he noticed a seven-year-old boy already sitting in it with his father by his side. He said on Reddit: ” I had booked myself a window seat and when I got there I saw a maybe seven-year-old boy sitting in there, next to his father (about 50-years-old) in the aisle seat. The opposite row also had his mother and his sister sitting there.
“I pointed towards my seat and the father asked me if I would mind swapping so they could sit together, and that their seat is in the row behind it. I said that I would only swap if it is a window seat, and he said it is an aisle seat.”
However, the father tried to make the situation uncomfortable by asking the man in a strange tone, ‘So do you want to sit next to my son?’. Annoyed, he shut this down completely and said he didn’t care who sits beside him on the flight, he just wants the window seat.
With that, he and his son stood up to let him into the seat. But he made sure to shame him as he walked past them, calling him an unkind person. Again, the man wasn’t having any of this and simply told the father to “behave himself”.
He added: “I just stood there looking at him serious, I think he was trying to shame me initially but he didn’t respond anything else to that. His wife was watching this the whole time. When somebody in the row behind saw it he offered to swap and sat next to me so they did eventually sit next to each other.
“For all I care they could have sat 20 rows apart or even booked a new flight, I had zero investment in this or their reasons. They can ask, I can say no and that should be the end of it. I didn’t like the ‘swap’ happened before I approved it either. If they care that much they can book their seats in advance like everyone else.
“I didn’t have a good reason why I need the window seat except that I like it and don’t like the aisle seat.” Commenting on his post, one user said: “People need to stop thinking they’re entitled to the seat someone else specifically picked out.
Another user added: “I am tickled pink that you told him to behave himself!” A third user said: “I’m not sure why people think lack of planning can be covered by personal relationships.”
