Man Refuses to Give Up Seat on Plane So 7-Year-Old Can Sit with Dad, Admits, 'I Didn't Have a Good Reason Why'

Mar. 15, 2025

Man sitting on plane in stock photo.Photo:Getty

Getty

A 29-year-old man wants to know if he was in the wrong for refusing to give up his seat on a plane so a young boy could sit next to his dad.

At one point, he writes, the boy’s father “asked me if I would mind swapping so they could sit together,” and he responded that he would only swap if the man was in a window seat. According to the poster, he man said his seat was not a window seat, and then asked, “So do you want to sit next to my son?”

People sitting on a plane in a stock photo.Getty

The poster responded, “I don’t care I just want the window seat,” to which the man told him he was “not a very nice person.” The poster then told the man to “be polite” and “behave yourself.”

Eventually, someone in another row offered to swap seats so that the man could sit next to his son — but the poster still found the situation irritating.

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“If they care that much they can book their seats in advance like everyone else,” he writes. “I didn’t have a good reason why Ineedthe window seat except that I like it and don’t like the aisle seat.”

But some argued that perhaps the dad wasn’t able to book seats together and was taking a gamble that a kind stranger would help him out.

“While OP has no obligation to give up a seat, I’m sick of people claiming parents can just book seats together!” wrote one Reddit user. “Do you really think they would’ve booked a child to sit alone if they had any other options?? It’s not like they were saving money and hoping to get a first class seat for economy or more leg room for a kid.”

source: people.com