‘Passive aggressive’ flyer refused to stand so seat mate could use bathroom
She was not a “stand-up” person.
Another day another nightmare at 30,000 feet. This time, a “big” passenger claimed that his “passive aggressive” seatmate refused to get up when he needed to go to the bathroom, and even complained that he was invading her “personal space.”
He detailed the inflight kerfuffle in the ever-popular Am I The A–hole forum on Reddit.
“Honestly, I felt terrible,” the unnamed flyer explained while detailing the flight from hell, which he described as a “long flight” where even “the comfiest seats feel like torture racks.”
The passenger explained that this was problematic given that he’s a “big dude” for whom plane seats are “absolute hell.” So he booked a window seat as felt that the “extra space would help.”
Little did he know, the woman in the middle seat wouldn’t be so accommodating. While the personal space opera started out swimmingly with the flyer exchanging “greetings” with the “nice person,” things reportedly got “tricky” after the original poster had to use the lavatory.
“Nature called a couple of times during the flight, and let’s just say squeezing by in that cramped space is an exercise in contortionism at the best of times,” the flyer lamented. “The woman in the middle seat politely refused to get up whenever I needed to use the restroom.”
This was a far cry from the “lady in the aisle seat”, who was “very accommodating” and would stand whenever he or the woman in the middle “needed to get up,” per the post.
Left with no other recourse, the passenger was forced to squeeze by his inconsiderate seatmate every time he needed to heed nature’s call, which left him in an awkward predicament.
“I get it. Nobody wants some sweaty dude brushing past them,” he described. “I tried my best to minimize contact, literally sucked in my gut and held my breath like I was underwater. But even with all the contorting, there was some unavoidable brushing past.”
This constant jostling didn’t sit well with his neighbor, who complained to him at the end of the flight.
“The woman makes a passive-aggressive comment about ‘personal space’ and how uncomfortable I made her feel throughout the flight,” recounted the passenger, who said her refusal to move caused an uncomfortable dilemma.
“Didn’t mean to make her feel that way, but what else was I supposed to do? Hold it for 8 hours?” he spluttered. Ask her to physically get up? (Since she repeatedly didn’t get up and indicated I should squeeze by, I had no reason to think she was too bothered by it).”
Fortunately most of the Reddit commentariat sympathized with the man’s inflight plight.
“What sort of idiot refuses to get up so someone can go to the bathroom?” said one. “I hope she got sweaty butt in her face multiple times.”
Another wrote, “You’re nicer than me, my response would have been: ‘Ma’am you refused to get up, so my only options were to either encroach on your personal space or pee on you. I’m sorry you feel I chose the wrong option.’”
