A plus-sized passenger has been praised online after refusing to give up the extra seat she'd purchased for her plane journey to allow someone else's toddler to sit in it.
The 34-year-old woman, who describes herself as "obese", opened up about a recent experience she'd had on a plane that left her feeling uncomfortable.
She explained that she'd bought an extra seat next to her own in order to have some extra space after finding the standard seating too restrictive for her size.
However, she found herself in an awkward position when an entitled parent believed that she should give up the seat she'd paid extra for, in order for the stranger's child to sit in it instead of on its mother's lap.
She wrote on Reddit: "I 34F am obese. I’m actively working toward losing weight and I’ve made progress but I’m still obese as I’m typing this.
"I’m going over to see my brother and his husband for Christmas across the country and because I’m fat, I booked an extra seat so everyone can be more comfortable.
"I know it sucks having to pay for an extra seat but it is what it is. I know Southwest Airlines has this 'customer of size' policy but I’ve had some bad experiences with Southwest even before I was obese so I wasn’t doing that and it’s mostly my fault I even got fat."
The 'customer of size' policy she mentioned is unique to Southwest Airlines, as this airline will give passengers who do not fit in the standard seat size an extra one - or even two if needed - seats for free to ensure they can ride in comfort.
While Southwest advises people to book their free extra seat in advance, passengers of size can also have it added on at check-in, meaning sometimes the flight can then be overbooked.
However, the Redditor had clarified she wasn't flying with Southwest so had had to pay extra for the seat, which she'd chosen to do so that she wouldn't feel uncomfortable for the duration of the journey.
She continued: "Everything goes smoothly from checking in to security and boarding, at least at first. This woman comes to my row with a boy who appeared to be about a year old.
"She told me to squeeze in to one seat so her son could sit in the other. She told me, not asked. I told her no and that I paid for this seat for the extra space."
The woman revealed that the stranger made a "big fuss" about her refusing to accommodate her toddler, which then got the attention of a flight attendant.
"She told the flight attendant I was stealing the seat from her son, then I showed my boarding passes, proving that I , in fact paid for the extra seat.
"The flight attendant asked me if I could try to squeeze in, but I said no, that I wanted the extra seat I paid for. The boy, who the mom said is 18 months old was supposed to sit in her lap so he could do just that."
She revealed that the flight attendant eventually told the mother to put her son on her lap, but the woman still gave her "dirty looks and passive-aggressive remarks" for the whole journey.
The poster admitted she felt "a little bad" for not giving the child her extra seat as the boy "looked hard to control", and asked if she was the "a**hole" in this situation.
However, other users quickly jumped to the woman's defense to confirm she was well within her rights to not give up the seat she'd paid for just because the mom would prefer not to have a squirming child sat on her lap.
They wrote: "She’s TA [the a**hole] for not buying a seat for her son and assuming someone else would give up a seat they paid for. Odds are she was hoping there’d be extra seats on the flight so she didn’t have to pay and used the lap thing as a loophole. Classic case of you snooze you lose."
Another pointed out the double standard, adding: "Apparently fat people have to get another seat to fly, but they also have to give up that extra seat for someone else’s child if they want it. Smh."
Someone else commented: "Absolutely 100 percent NTA. You paid for your seat. This woman was trying to steal a free seat for her kid. If it’s too hard to have him on her lap, buy a seat for him. It’s s**te that they even asked you to share or give up your seat.
"Plus airlines literally demand larger customers purchase two seats and god knows, if you were in one seat and that entitled mom was next to you, the same dirty looks and comments would be the result.
"She had no right and the plane staff should have shut her down. It’s misery dealing with all the judgment when you fly in these crowded planes and everyone acts like you are taking up too much space either way you try to manage it. The crew should realize that that s**t is sensitive as hell and not join in the bullying, even if in terms of 'trying to compromise. That’s literally hundreds of dollars she was trying to snatch from you when she chose not to purchase a seat! Ooh I’m mad about this one. You are sooooo NTA."
One added: "NTA. Some people are so entitled you paid for the seats, you should not have to give one of them up. The Cabin crew should have stopped this straight away once they saw you had booked both seats, it should have been obvious why. They should not have asked you to squeeze in to 1 seat. The Mother was an AH and So was the member of cabin crew."
