A man has been praised for refusing to swap plane seats with a pregnant woman.
Taking to Reddit's notorious 'Am I The A**hole' thread, a person with the username @michaeldonelly opened up about a conundrum that involved giving up his seat for a pregnant woman.
After setting the scene for social media users, telling them that he booked and paid extra for an aisle seat near the bathroom while he was flying home for the holidays, he wrote: "Right before boarding, a woman asked me to give up my seat so she could sit closer to the bathroom.
"She was pregnant but did not seem distressed. While I felt for her situation, as someone with a medical condition, I did not feel it was fair to demand I move from the seat I planned for and paid for, especially since she apparently had not booked an aisle seat herself in advance," he continued.
He then alleged that the flight attendants "refused to help mediate when she insisted I should have to move," before stating: "There were also no other aisle or close seats available on the full flight that I or flight crew could facilitate swapping."
He even tried recommending that she speak to her doctor about needing specific accommodation if she was flying any time in the near future, especially given her situation.
"Still, my family says I should have inconvenienced myself and given up my seat. I disagree though - I think she and the flight crew were unfairly targeting me instead of handling it through proper channels. AITA [Am I The A**hole]?" he asked.
Unlike the flight attendants and this person's own family, social media users were particularly empathetic to the guy and emphasized that he was not the a**hole in this situation.
"NTA [Not the a**hole]," said one user. "She should have booked another seat she wanted herself or not gone on the flight. Seems she just assumed she wouldn't have to pay for it, since some sucker was going to move. The flight attendants are at fault for not mediating. At some point they should have told her to go back to her seat. (and all of this is regardless of your medical issues. You paid for the seat. She didn't)."
"NTA," another added. "I say this as someone who has been pregnant and has flown solo with a toddler… every passenger has equal opportunity to pre-book seats based on their needs and preferences. It’s no one business why you booked that seat. Was the passenger or airline going to reimburse you for the cost of prebooking the seat?
"Zero obligation for you to move," they concluded.
And this third user was also firm with their stance, writing: "NTA I wouldn’t have traded for a non aisle and I don’t have a medical issue. I picked and paid for an aisle seat so that is what I am getting."
Who do you think was right in this situation? Let us know in the comments.
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