Plane Passenger Says Seatmate Kept 'Mumbling Profanities' After Refusing To Switch Seats
If she paid for the seat, she shouldn't have to move.
TikTok / Milkovasa / Shutterstock Many people have differing opinions on whether or not it's fair to ask another plane passenger to switch seats while on an aircraft.
In some instances, it's because families want to be able to stick together, and in others, it can happen because a passenger is unhappy with their seat choice and is hoping someone is willing to switch.
However, one TikTok user's experience of an obnoxious plane passenger asking to swap seats has left many viewers slightly angry.
A woman says she was approached by a plane passenger who asked her to switch seats.
In a TikTok video, Surya Garg explained that she had been sitting in her seat on a plane while it was boarding when she was suddenly asked by another passenger if she'd be willing to switch.
Garg clarified that while she will usually give up her seats for parents with young children who want to all sit together, she does find the question slightly annoying.
"I'll definitely think more if I have to give up a window or aisle [seat] for a middle [seat]," Garg said. "But normally people don't ask you to do that."
While the occurrence is an unusual one, Garg was part of the small few that was asked to move her seat to the middle.
Already settled into her window seat, Garg said she was suddenly approached by the woman in the middle seat next to her, who asked Garg if she would be able to switch seats with her son, who was sitting in a middle seat in the back of the plane.
"I'm like, 'who's your son?'" Garg recalled asking the woman who had wanted her to move so she could sit next to her kid. "And she points to this 6-foot-5 man!"
The woman's son, who Garg estimated was around 16/17, had been on the phone during the duration of the boarding process, talking to his girlfriend and clearly disinterested in the entire ordeal.
"This was not her child like he was her kid, but he's an adult," she continued.
When Garg refused to switch seats, her seatmate began 'muttering profanities' about her for the duration of the flight.
At the woman's request, Garg didn't quite know what to say, but definitely didn't want to switch seats.
"I don’t know what to say; I don’t want to move, I don’t think she deserves for me to [move] because this is definitely a case of like, bad planning,” Garg said.
“I don’t want to look like an a-hole, but I don’t think I’m an a-hole in this situation.”
Garg eventually turns down the woman's request, politely telling the plane passenger that she "paid extra for this seat" and would like to stay in the seat she spent money on.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the answer the woman had been looking for.
Garg said that after declining to switch seats with her teenage son, the woman made "the nastiest face" at her.
"[She] sits down next to me in the middle seat, her son goes back to the middle seat that he’s assigned to in the back, and then under her breathe for the entirety of the flight, is just muttering profanities at me."
TikTok users praised Garg for not giving up her seat and condemned the plane passenger's rude behavior.
"The way she reacted is precisely why you should not give up your seat. Good job for sticking up for yourself," one user wrote.
Another user added, "She could have asked whoever was sitting next to her son to switch with her. People are so entitled. You did nothing wrong."
"I’m starting to think isn’t 'bad planning,' [but] people are counting on 'the Good Samaritan' so they don’t have to pay extra for a seat," a third user pointed out.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.