Airline Passenger Gets Revenge Against Woman Next To Her In An Aisle Seat Who Kept Reaching Over To Close The Window Shade
"She never asked me, she just reached directly in front of me to close the shade."
Undrey / Shutterstock In recent years, many flight passengers have admitted to experiencing unruly and downright annoying behavior from their fellow seatmates. From incidents involving people taking off their shoes and proudly propping their feet on the backs of others' seats to passengers getting into altercations with flight attendants, air travel seems to bring out the worst in people.
Adding to the influx of plane incidents and altercations, a woman revealed the petty way that she got revenge against another woman who'd been sitting next to her on a flight that kept violating her personal space.
Posting to the subreddit r/pettyrevenge, she claimed that she wasn't going to sit back and allow someone to be outright disrespectful.
She got revenge against a woman sitting next to her in the aisle seat who kept leaning over to close the window shade.
In her Reddit post, she explained that she'd been sitting in the window seat during a recent flight. Usually, an unspoken yet widely regarded etiquette rule on flights is that whoever sits in the window seat has control of the window shade.
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In any other circumstance, a normal person who maybe didn't want the window open would politely ask if the person sitting closest to it would shut it, but unfortunately, this woman didn't do that at all. She recalled that the woman sitting beside her in the aisle seat reached over her multiple times to shut the window shade.
"She never asked me; she just reached directly in front of me to close the shade. I would immediately reopen it, and a few minutes later, she would reach in front of me again to close it," she wrote. "It was a noon domestic short-haul flight, so no reason to need darkness in the middle of the day."
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Her seatmate had no reason to continuously violate her personal space without at least asking first if she could close the window. So, as revenge, she pulled out her book and turned on the reading light. Despite enough light coming in through the window, the Redditor began positioning her hand so that her watch would reflect the reading light directly in her eyes.
She read for about an hour, taking advantage of the reading light to annoy the woman beside her. Once they landed, the other woman took her headphones off, and she immediately turned toward her and said: "Next time you fly, book a window seat if you want to control the window. Or at least treat me like a human and ask me before you violate my personal space. What you did is unbelievably rude."
Commenters agreed that someone sitting in the aisle seat isn't entitled to control the window shade.
"In what universe does anyone touch the window, let alone reach across you multiple times without asking? Seriously, I think people leave their brains at home when they travel; it’s just baffling," one Reddit user wrote.
However, other people pointed out that instead of resorting to petty behavior, she should have told the woman in the aisle seat to stop reaching over her, and if she wanted the window shade closed, all she needed to do was ask. Instead of stooping to her level and escalating the situation, the woman could have taken the higher road by addressing the issue directly and assertively.
"The person with the window seat gets to control the window shade. What she did was disrespectful, but you should have said something the first time. Shining your watch on her face was childish," another user added. "In shared spaces, some compromise is needed. You could have put the window halfway. Pointless games and escalation get nowhere."
A third user agreed, writing, "Seems passive-aggressive. Next time, be formal and direct, and if they act up, threaten to speak to the crew. Prolonged eye contact with the offender also helps."
At the end of the day, passengers must remember that flying is stressful, and adding unnecessary drama worsens it.
While it's understandable to feel frustrated by rude behavior, responding with revenge or passive-aggressiveness may not always be the best solution.
Respectful interactions can go a long way, and if you're sitting in an aisle seat and, for some reason, would feel more comfortable with the window shade pulled down, consider politely communicating with the passenger in the window seat.
Simply asking if they would mind closing the shade or finding a compromise together can help prevent misunderstandings and create a more comfortable and secure flight.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.