Woman refuses to give up aisle seat for tall friend who wanted more leg room, asks if she was wrong

Stepping out to watch a movie, a play or a music concert often means coordinating schedules to book tickets. However, plans don’t always go smoothly, as conflicts—sometimes over seemingly trivial things like seat preferences—can arise within the group. A woman, u/Few_Sort_4696, faced a similar situation when she refused to give up her aisle seat during a recent theater visit. The 44-year-old explained why she had to decline her fiancé’s tall friend’s request, ultimately gaining support from the online community.

In her post, the woman, who has “horrible vision” in her left eye, stood firm on her “I get the end seat” stance. She explained that achieving a corrected 20/40 vision was nearly impossible, as the glasses were too heavy and caused severe headaches. “Even with contacts, I couldn’t handle it because, basically, the ophthalmologist said that since it wasn’t corrected as a young child, my brain had essentially shut off the vision for that eye,” she wrote. However, because the woman’s right eye only needed a mild prescription for distance, she had been wearing glasses for the past 30 years.

“They gave me glasses for my right eye and just said ‘[expletive] it” with my left, using a balanced lens,” the post explained. She initially bought tickets for herself, her fiancé, her daughter, and her daughter’s friend. When her daughter and her friend couldn’t attend due to work, she offered the extra tickets to her fiancé’s friend and his wife. “My daughter and the friend ended up not being able to go because of work, so I offered the extra two tickets to my fiancé's friend and wife for free,” she wrote. The couple happily accepted the invite, and the four of them went to a local theatre. “When we got there, the husband asked me to switch his seats (I had a seat at the end of the row) because he wanted more legroom (Man is 6'5)," she revealed. She denied his request and said “no.”

“I don't like to sit between people if I don't have to because if someone sits on my left side where I can't see, I tend to lean to the right and into the person I'm sitting next to because it makes me nervous, and then I'm invading someone's space,” she explained. “I purposely buy tickets where I can sit at the end of the row or against a wall for this reason.” She said that the only people she feels comfortable sitting between include her kids, fiancé, parents and close friends. “It doesn't make me nervous to have them where I can't see, but only if I have to. I will get places early, like church or a basketball game at my kids' school, just to get an end seat for my own comfort,” she added, further claiming that her family and close friends were used to this seating preference.

However, the fiancé’s friend remained persistent in his demand for the seat exchange, wanting the legroom. “I told him too bad that I wasn't giving up my seat, and that I gave him the tickets for free. He can deal with what he got. He grumbled and sat where his ticket was but told my fiancé later that I was rude and inconsiderate,” the post elaborated further. The fiancé sided with his partner because by then, he was used to the “I get the end seat” thing. The post managed to draw widespread attention on social media, including from u/SleeplessPilot, who pointed out, “Your issue is a legitimate disability. His is for comfort.” “If he has issues, he never has to come to the theatre with you on free tickets ever again,” u/sitnquiet remarked.