Passenger's plane etiquette divides internet after blowup over middle seat
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A woman has taken to social media after a confronting experience on a flight.

The woman said that she and her sister booked the window and aisle seats — leaving the middle seat vacant.

But, it turns out the middle seat wasn’t vacant at all, and the woman sitting there had a lot to say.

“Are we missing something here?”

“My sister and I booked a flight. She likes the window and I like the aisle,” the poster began.

“When we sat down, there was someone in the middle seat. She asked if we wanted to change seats and we politely declined.”

And, it wouldn’t have been a problem had the two sisters not begun passing things back and forth.


Passengers seated on an airplane.
A woman shared the hostile reaction she got when she passed snacks to her sister while on a flight. Daniel Avram – stock.adobe.com

“I handed a small snack bag to my sister as I got comfortable in my seat. The woman remarked, ‘Are you two planning to be rude and pass things back and forth the entire flight?’ she recounted.

“I calmly explained that I had asked my sister to hold onto one thing. Once I was seated and fastened in, I would request it back. Otherwise, my sister intended to nap, and I would use my iPad.”

But the woman didn’t stop there.

“She persisted in raising her voice about how inconsiderate we were. I believe our refusal to change seats really bothered her. She kept complaining and even delayed my sister by allowing a few extra rows to go ahead,” she stated.

“Are we missing something here?”

“It’s no fun being in the middle”

Commenters were quick to defend the woman in the middle seat, with many sharing their own similar experiences and calling the sisters entitled.

“Few people like to be the ones stuck in the middle, so her mood was probably not the best from the get go. But it might have been even more exasperating to her to think that you two were going to be bantering and passing this across her the entire flight,” one person said.

“It’s not super fun to be in the middle of two people talking and passing things back and forth across you. If she thought you were going to be doing that the entire flight I can see her being annoyed,” another agreed.

“I totally understand wanting to reserve the seat you want, but I felt like they picked their seats with the hope it wouldn’t be a full flight and the middle seat would be empty,” a commenter suggested.

“It’s no fun being in the middle of two people who are passing things to each other. Maybe the other passenger overreacted, but I’ve been in the same situation and it just felt awkward,” said another.

“Some people are just grouchy”

But that doesn’t mean no one was on the poster’s side, with a number of people saying that, though the woman’s frustration was warranted, it went too far.

“She probably thought you were going to keep doing it and snapped prematurely. Once you explained and didn’t keep bugging her it’s completely on her and continuing to be rude was not warranted. Some people are just grouchy,” one commenter said.

“I do think she was rude and should have had more patience,” said another.

“If it truly was just one pass, maybe two passes during the entire flight, then the middle seat passenger was just being an [asshole],” a third agreed.

Some even suggested the woman in the middle was entirely to blame, given the sisters foiled her master plan.

“She wanted a window or aisle seat without the extra cost, and was trying to shame you into giving it to her. Entitled, indeed,” one person said.

“She was just mad that she didn’t plan ahead and couldn’t believe that one of you refused to give up your comfort for her,” another said.

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