The debate over how to handle passengers wanting to swap seats on an airplane is kicking up once again.
Rylie (@ryspams4) recently posted a TikTok recounting the time she was on a flight out of Denver when she says a family of six walked down the aisle—three kids who she estimated to be between 5 and 10 years old, and a fourth who looked a little younger.
Despite keeping her AirPods in and keeping to herself, she says the dad wound up grabbing her shoulder, trying to get her attention.
“He points to the row behind me, and he says, ‘Hey, so I talked to the guy sitting behind you. No one’s sitting between them right now,’” she recalls. “It was a guy in the window seat and another guy on the right seat. So the middle seat was open.”
The dad, of course, wanted Rylie to switch seats—and didn’t even ask, according to Riley. She says he just immediately suggested she should do as much so that his youngest daughter could sit near the rest of her family, rather than wedged between two strangers.
However, the TikToker says she paid $40 extra to secure a window seat up near the front of the plane and told the man she had anxiety about planes and sitting between people and didn’t want to move. And suddenly, she says, “His whole demeanor instantly changed.”
“He looks me dead in the eyes and goes, ‘Oh, so you’re really going to just let a kid sit back there by herself in the middle seat and not be with her family?’” she recalls.
As the dad kept complaining, Rylie admits she straight up asked him why he wouldn’t switch seats with his kid so she could sit with her siblings. She says he told her told that it’s because the girl’s name wasn’t on his seat.
It allegedly took the flight attendant coming by and making the same suggestion, pointing out how uncomfortable the kid seemed, for the dad to finally trade places with her himself.
@ryspams4 As a literal mom ill never understand the audacity of parents thinking theyre better than other people. Also the kicker is HIS NAME was on the middle seat ticket not even his poor daughter 😭😭😭 #horrorstories #americanairlines #dia #denver #audacity #fyp #viral ♬ original sound – ryspams4
A hot topic
Being asked to trade seats on an airplane so families can sit together is a topic that frequently pops up for discussion on TikTok. Some people say they’ll usually agree, while others are a hard no. But it’s definitely something that draws heated opinions, especially when it involves seats that cost extra money.
Viewers think Rylie was in the right
And in Rylie’s comment section, the overwhelming vibe was that she was absolutely in the right to stay in her spot.
“Repeat after me, ‘Poor planning on your part isn’t an emergency on my part,’” wrote @_biznesslady.
“The audacity of parents sometimes,” @jadedfromliving said. “Its always parents. When my family flies we buy our seats to ensure we are next to each other.”
One user said that she no longer explains her reasoning when she’s asked to move. They wrote, “I say no and put my headphones back in.”
Several suggested Rylie should have asked him for double the extra fee she paid for the seat so that “he won’t and his kids will not it’s on him.”
But @creed_675 had a very valid point about another way this could have all gone down, writing, “Man as a mom I would have taken the seat and let dad deal with the kids the entire flight.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Rylie via TikTok comment.
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