Outraged woman shows video of a stranger invading her private space on flight, sparking debate

We often find ourselves in tricky situations while traveling on public transport. Whether it is in a bus, train, or flight, there is always one or more unruly passengers who spoil the journey for fellow travelers. Savannah Sterling (@sterlingsavannah on TikTok) filmed herself on a flight while she occupied the window seat and was probably listening to her music in peace with her headphones on. But the elderly passenger sitting next to her probably did not have an ounce of knowledge about flight etiquette. Sterling's video reached over 4 million views on TikTok as she discreetly filmed the older man sitting next to her and how he continued to try and take pictures of the view outside the window. 

But while doing so, the man had been putting his entire arm and camera in front of Sterling's face which visibly made her uncomfortable as he was invading her private space. But the man didn't budge and continued taking multiple shots from time to time and placed his arms in front of Sterling. “Do people not know personal space? And that you can choose a window seat?” she wrote in the overlay caption of her video. Since she was not a confrontational person at all, she chose the only option left to her which was "staring out of the window" in silence.

Fellow TikTok users were confused and furious over the man's invasive behavior and left their thoughts and tips related to the situation. @tigristranscendence suggested: "Another option is to look him in the eyes and let him know he is making you uncomfortable. Try it. It's liberating to stand up for yourself." Some others questioned Sterling to verify if the older man was her dad or not and she confirmed that he indeed wasn't her dad or related to her in any way. @itssierrawwwr wrote, "Me being me I'd ask if I could take the photo for him. I understand personal space but I'm a talker and would have started up a convo."

@anongirlypop commented, "Your option is to speak up and say please don’t reach over me and lean into my space. If there’s an issue get a flight attendant." @urfavnovscorpio added, "It’s very important to be able to advocate for ourselves when someone is making us uncomfortable." Sterling isn't the only one who has faced discomfort sitting with a fellow passenger. There are countless other cases like this where people have found themselves in uncomfortable situations.

u/86max86 on Reddit shared a similar encounter involving their father and a rude co-passenger back in the '80s when they were on a flight. The person recalled how their father eventually "got back" at the entitled passenger like a true boss. While on a flight, the person's dad "placed his briefcase in the overhead compartment and took his seat while the rest of the passengers boarded and got settled." Then a man came to his row and unapologetically took the father's briefcase out of the overhead bin and put his carry-on in the overhead (leaving no room for anything else) and then walked back to his seat near the front of the plane.

"Rather than causing a scene, Dad removed the guy’s carry-on from the overhead, put his briefcase back, and hit the flight attendant call button. When the attendant came by to check on him, he asked to gate check “his” carry-on. (Gate-checked items are put down in the cargo hold with the rest of the checked baggage and need to be retrieved at baggage claim) He put the gate check ticket in the seat pocket in front of him and enjoyed his flight," the person explained how tactfully their father got back at the entitled passenger.

You can follow @sterlingsavannah on TikTok for similar engaging content.

This article originally appeared on 1.2.24.