Young Woman Refused to Move Seats on Flight to Help a Mother, Was She Actually Wrong?

A young woman has recently taken to Reddit to air her frustration at a difficult flight problem she faced whilst travelling to her sisters wedding.

23 year old Julia had to travel across the United States to attend her sister’s wedding so booked her flight ahead of time, opting for the middle seat as it was cheaper and she was all for saving a few pennies, especially with needing to fly back too.

After settling in to her seat and getting out her headphones and book, she was confronted by a mother and her young son who demanded she moved out their way. Julia was incredibly confused as she’d booked this seat specifically but figured she’d hear them out before it escalated too far.

“I wasn’t actually sure what was happening as my seat number was on my ticket so I asked what the woman meant and why she wanted me to move and she demanded that I get up so she can sit next to her son.” Julia told us exasperated at the unfolding situation.

Julia proceeded to explain to the angry mother that she didn’t like sitting in the aisle seat and the middle was the only one left available when she booked her tickets, but she would be willing to switch to the window seat so she could sit with her son if that makes things better.

The mother went red in the face and refused to have her son move, stating that it wasn’t fair to make a child move from his seat and Julia should be moving. Fearing she was entering into an unwinnable fight, Julia called over the air hostess and explained the situation whilst asking for some advice.

Whilst rolling her eyes, the air hostess proceeded to tell the mother that she must sit in her booked seats and if she wanted two seats together she should have booked them.

Resigned and happy with the outcome, Julia settled into the flight and after having some lunch ended up popping to the bathroom. When she returned all her belongings, including her very expensive headphones, were strewn unceremoniously into the aisle and her purse was all over the floor whilst the mother and son were now sitting next to each other – in Julia’s seat!

Julia was incredibly angry at the sheer lack of respect for her belongings but didn’t want to cause a fight in such an enclosed space, so she called over the same air hostess as before and showed her the mess.

The air hostess helped Julia pack up her bag and explained the the mother that if she doesn’t get out of Julia’s seat then her and her son would be made to move to another set of seats and they may not be together.

Although this did solve the immediate situation, the woman and her son proceeded to kick and annoy Julia the entire flight to try and force her to move, making Julia’s fight a living hell.

When Julia explained the whole situation to her sister before the wedding she was utterly shocked by her sister’s response stating, “My sister said I should have just moved in the first place and not caused such a scene. She thought that the mother and son definitely should have been sat together and it wasn’t fair of me to deny them that.”

Julia is now worried she did the wrong thing and she was actually in the wrong in this situation after speaking to her sister. She wasn’t being difficult on purpose but she had paid for her specific seat and wonders if the mother booked two seats apart from each other in the hope that they would get the whole row to themselves.

What do you think Julia should have done? Would you have done the same or would you have moved to let the mother and son be together? Let me know in the comments!