Woman's hilariously disarming response to 'plane seat bandit' who stole her seat wins the internet

It's hard to avoid annoying personalities in life—they can be neighbors, co-workers, or even family. For Reddit user u/Hungry_Ad_7627, it was a co-passenger on a flight. She had heard of people stealing seats on planes and, given her frequent work travel, expected it to happen someday. When it did, her clever response to the "plane seat bandit" was surprisingly effective.

She explained that she and her husband, who often travel for work, always prefer seats at the back of the plane. Upon boarding, they found a woman and her preteen son in their seats. "They were both deep in their phones when I told her she was in our seats. We had to wake up at 3:00 to drive to the airport, and we didn't really sleep, so I was not in the mood for this," she recalled. The "bandit" mom claimed a flight attendant had assigned them those seats so she could sit with her son. "She keeps smiling her stiff smile and points to other empty seats behind us and asks if we wouldn't mind sitting in one of them since they are already settled and comfortable," the woman explained.

The woman tried reasoning with the stubborn passenger, explaining that taking random seats could mess up the whole arrangement. "She is starting to lose her smile and says if there aren't seats available after the plane is finished boarding, they would move then," the woman said. Being a people pleaser, she was struggling to get her seat back from the rude passenger and her husband went ahead to bring in a flight attendant to resolve the matter. The wife tried to explain to the other woman that she might be blocking the aisle while waiting for her seat but that made no difference. Then came her epic response.

"I would like the police to be able to identify our bodies by seat number in case the plane crashes and our families want to bury our remains," the woman told the bandit. Both the mom and the kid looked up in shock at this comment and there was complete silence for a few seconds. Eventually, the mom and son gathered their stuff and moved to a different seat. By the time the husband returned with the flight attendant, the problem had been resolved. "I tell her (the flight attendant) everything is fine and tell my husband what happened. We laughed and I’m pretty sure the mom heard," the woman added.

Her eerily amusing comment won the internet's approval. "They probably had seats they disliked. But they need to choose better if they expect things," said u/Happyfun0160. "Several times, when asked to change seats, I refuse with the same explanation. Correctly identifying my corpse in my assigned seat is so comforting and helps lower my flight anxiety," remarked u/oughtabeme. "I do enjoy these stories as well. Not confrontational? Would have had me fooled. You rang that bell! Need to remember this one if the need ever arises," lauded u/Electronic-Lab-4419.