Woman refuses to give up first class seat for mother and 'difficult' son. AITA?
When this woman feels conflicted for what she did on a plane she asks Reddit:
"Am I wrong for not giving up my first class plane seat for a mother and her child?"
I (24F) recently flew across the country for a work trip. My company had booked me a first class ticket for the long flight.
When I got to my seat, there was a mom flying with her young son, maybe 4 years old. She asked if I would mind switching to her economy seat so she could sit with her son in first class.
I politely declined and explained I had to work during the flight and really needed the space in first class. The mom got huffy and claimed I was being selfish. She said her son was too disruptive, difficult for a confined economy seat and she absolutely needed that extra space.
A flight attendant came over to mediate and the mom tried insisting I should "do the right thing." I reiterated that I couldn't give up my company-booked seat. Finally the mom retreated to her own seat, giving me nasty looks.
I felt bad for the kid, but I didn't think it was fair for this woman to demand I sacrifice the seat that I paid for. My company won't reimburse me for economy seats either. Still, the encounter left me wondering if I should have just done it for the sake of a mother and child. Amiwrong?
Let's see what readers thought.
rickmorty123 writes:
All of it is a nope for me....for this type situation. Guarantee she was in the back trying to guilt someone to give up their aisle seat because she didnt pay for an assigned seat. I could just hear her.
That mean AH in first class wouldnt give up their seat for me to sit with my little boy...."you didn't buy a seat next to him? I couldn't afford it and he's too disruptive....waaah waaah. And the encounter ends just like your did. Cheap and entitled.
knotnotme6 writes:
Honestly YTA. I asked someone to switch seats with me in economy once. Soo I could sit by my kid who had never flown before and lives with autism and social anxiety. Three people said no. One guy agreed. I was so so embarrassed. I thought I had booked seats together but I misunderstood the seating assignments and my kid was freaking out.
I can't believe she wasn't giving someone a first class seat and going back to sit with her kid. That is the right thing to do. I know I sound crazy but just do it, help the mom.
prouddeparture writes:
NOOO. NTA. You did the right thing. I imagine the mom probably purchased just 1 first class seat hoping she could easily guilt someone into trading so that she'd have 2 first class seats for the price of 1 + economy.
You did the right thing. She could have easily asked someone in the economy seat to take the first class seat if she felt she really needed to be next to her son. But it wasn't really about her being near her son for the duration of the flight.