It’s only common courtesy to give up your seat for someone who is elderly or pregnant, right?
What about if the seat you’re being asked to vacate is one you paid for, then what?
Last month, a Redditor who goes by michaeldonelly presented a situation to their fellow Redditors and asked if they were the a**hole for not giving up their seat to a pregnant woman.
The responses were a bit shocking.
The Reddit user explained they were flying solo and previously booked an aisle seat in the second to last row “because I have medical issues that sometimes require quick access to the bathroom.”
“Right before boarding, a woman asked me to give up my seat so she could sit closer to the bathroom. She was pregnant but did not seem distressed,” he continued.
While he said he “felt” for the woman’s situation, he didn’t feel it was fair to ask him to move from the seat he prebooked.
Unfortunately, he received no help.
According to him, neither the flight attendants nor his family members were of any help. His family believed he should have “inconvenienced” himself in order to accommodate the woman.
“The flight attendants refused to help mediate when she insisted I should have to move. There were also no other aisle or close seats available on the full flight that I or flight crew could facilitate swapping.”
“I tried to recommend she speak to her doctor about needing accommodation if sitting far from the bathroom is not medically advisable for her situation during future flights.”
The majority of Redditors agreed he wasn’t the a**hole, and many even agreed the flight attendants should have stepped in to assist.
“She should have booked another seat she wanted herself or not gone on the flight,” one person wrote. “Seems she just assumed she wouldn’t have to pay for it, since some sucker was going to move.”
“This is not a subway or bus where seats are free and you can easily move around as people get on or off,” another commented. “This an airplane where such liberties are not available. On top of this, OP paid extra for his seat. No and absolutely no.”
Do you agree? Was he right in not giving up his seat?
