Guy Steals Another Passenger’s Seat, Learns It Was A Major Screw-Up

It seems that every flight has at least one passenger making themselves comfortable in someone else’s seat before finding their own. And quite a few of such occupants don’t even bother to find their own.

Redditor u/McZigger told the ‘Entitled People’ community about encountering such a passenger on their flight. A man occupied their seat and was not willing to move, so the redditor let him be, and allowed him to suffer the consequences of his own actions.

There are many things that can get on one’s nerves when taking a plane, but some seem to be worse than others. A survey by Go Compare revealed that for air travel enthusiasts, there is nothing more annoying than someone behind them treating their seat like a soccer player treats a ball.

Seat-kicking passengers are followed by something the occupant of the OP’s seat was left to deal with—drunken passengers; according to the survey, they make roughly half of travelers on planes seriously annoyed. In addition to these two headaches, screaming children, people reclining their seats, and loud or smelly passengers respectively are also on the list of the most annoying things people do on planes.

Despite how aggravating someone occupying one’s seat might be, it doesn’t seem to be among the things that bother air travelers the most. However, it can become a headache to members of the air crew, as they are typically the ones having to deal with such ‘lost’ passengers.

Kristie Koerbel, a flight attendant with over two decades of experience, told The Irish Times that it’s best to deal with any seating issues before getting on the plane. This applies to instances when parties traveling together end up being separated, which often leads to them asking fellow passengers to give up their seats. “The chaotic rush of boarding is not when flight attendants can solve it for you,” Kristie pointed out.

Whether it’s because of families being split up or someone asking to switch seats for other reasons, you don’t have to do it, the flight attendant said. Adding that she might be unpopular here, Kristie suggested that you should only swap seats if you are happy to help and it doesn’t inconvenience you too much.

In the piece for The Irish Times, the flight attendant discussed other dos and don’ts that are worth keeping in mind to make air travel a pleasant experience for everyone involved. For example, she pointed out that reclining one’s seat—the fourth most annoying thing passengers do—is in no way forbidden, but there is a right way to do it. It involves looking around you and politely asking if the person behind you doesn’t mind—two simple steps that can help avoid broken laptops, spilled drinks, and even fist fights, according to Kristie.

She also suggested that passengers shouldn’t move around other people’s belongings in the overhead bins too much, discipline other people’s children, or play games or videos out loud—that’s what earphones are for. In addition to that, the flight attendant emphasized that socks should never be taken off on a plane and—despite being seemingly obvious—people should always flush after using the restroom.

Some redditors in the comments wondered if the restroom was the reason the man took over the OP’s seat; they speculated that he might have wanted to stay within close proximity of it just in case. Be that as it may, similarly to reclining one’s seat, a person should ideally ask the fellow passenger if they’re okay with swapping seats; something the occupant of the OP’s seat didn’t bother doing. But instead of fighting with him about it, the redditor decided to take his seat instead and leave karma—and the drunken ladies—to take care of it.