Man refuses to give up pre-booked window seat to 7-year-old, asks if he was wrong to stand his ground

With time, air travel has increasingly become safer and more convenient in contrast with other forms of transportation. Yet, travelers often complain about the "missing" comfort. That's why they shell out extra money to get a seat of their choice. Sharing the same belief, a 29-year-old man booked a window seat to avoid mid-air disturbances. Everything was going as planned until the man—who goes by u/Mediocre-Chain1210 on Reddit—boarded the flight to find a 7-year-old kid occupying his pre-booked seat.

Sitting next to the young boy was his father, who asked the Reddit user if he could adjust to another aisle seat so they could sit together. He politely declined the father's request. What followed was an uncomfortable encounter with the young boy's father. 

Giving background on this uncomfortable encounter, the 29-year-old said he had boarded a short 70-minute flight with a 2-2 seating arrangement. He had pre-booked a window seat and was in no mood to swap it for an aisle seat.

He explained, "I like to look out, but mainly if I need a nap, which is unlikely to happen if I can't rest my head against the window. Other than that, I hate aisle seats a lot—equally, if not more, than middle seats. People and the drinks trolley keep bumping into you." 

However, his plans were cut short by the young boy's 50-year-old father, who insisted on a seat change. “I pointed towards my seat, and the child’s father asked me if I would mind swapping so they could sit together,” he wrote. The father, in exchange, offered him their seat in the row behind his original seat.

While the boy’s father sat next to him in the aisle seat, his mother and sister were in the opposite row. However, the man claimed he was in no mood to swap seats unless the family complied with his one condition. He explained, "I said that I would only swap if it were a window seat, and he (the child’s father) said it was an aisle seat."

Notably, the man was not excited to hear the option offered by his co-passenger. "Then I said I wouldn't swap," he added. What followed was an awkward exchange between the 29-year-old and the boy's father.

"So, do you want to sit next to my son?" the 50-year-old asked, to which the 29-year-old passenger replied, "I don't care; I just want the window seat."

The man was met with another rude set of remarks from the stubborn parent. Standing up and getting his son up, the father said, "You’re a very nice person, I mean, not a very nice person." Annoyed by the father's comment, the 29-year-old passenger replied, "It's none of your business."

The father pushed back, saying he wouldn’t remain polite. The man replied with something he didn’t clearly remember and asked the elder to behave.

"I just stood there looking at him seriously. I think he was trying to shame me initially, but he didn’t respond with anything else (to that)," the post explained further.

All the while, the boy’s mother was watching their heated conversation. Ultimately, it boiled down to another co-passenger offering his seat to the father.

"He (the other co-passenger) offered to swap and sat next to me, so they (the father and his son) did eventually sit next to each other," the man elaborated.

“For all I care, they could have sat 20 rows apart or even booked a new flight. They can ask, I can say no, and that should be the end of it. I didn’t like that they basically pulled a fait accompli when trying to swap with me. If they care that much, they can book their seats in advance like everyone else,” he concluded.

After the incident, the man was left confused about whether he went overboard to keep his seat.

His post drew massive attention and garnered over 14,000 upvotes. Among the 1,900 comments, u/emergencycat17 agreed, “If they wanted the seat, they should have booked it together.” u/JohnnyFootballStar recalled, “One time, I paid extra to choose my seats so I could sit next to my eight-year-old on an international flight."