"She's a child!": Father urges passenger to swap seats

USA - An airline passenger recently had a rather unpleasant encounter with a whining child - and its parents.

A small child wanted to sit at the window, but the passenger did not give up his seat. (symbolic image)
A small child wanted to sit at the window, but the passenger did not give up his seat. (symbolic image)  © 123rf/juanjomendieta

In a post shared on the social media platform Reddit , a user described the incident, which he said happened while he was enjoying the view from the window on board a flight.

"After I settled into my seat, a family boarded: a father, mother and their little girl who was about six years old," the author of the post said.

He added: "The father had an aisle seat, the mother sat in the middle, and the child was to sit (...) in the other aisle seat. Everything seemed fine until the girl realized she wasn't sitting by the window."

The child immediately started screaming and complaining. She kept saying that she wanted to sit by the window while the parents desperately tried to calm her down.

However, the situation quickly escalated and the child threw a tantrum. "At this point, the father leaned over to me and asked: 'Would you please swap places with her? She's still a child'," the author continued.

Passenger did not give in and kept the seat for himself

After a few minutes, the mother managed to calm the child down. (symbolic image)
After a few minutes, the mother managed to calm the child down. (symbolic image)  © 123rf/bestdesign36

But he politely explained to the father that he had booked the window seat in advance to enjoy the view. However, the father continued to insist, adding how nice it was and that it wouldn't do much harm to the person.

The writer of the post stated that he understood the father's frustration, but did not believe that his daughter's tantrum was a valid reason to give up the extra reserved seat.

"He sighed and kept trying to push, but I stood firm," it continued.

After around ten minutes, the mother managed to calm the child down with a tablet. "However, the tension remained. Throughout the flight, I could feel the parents giving me reproachful looks, and when we landed, I heard the mother mumble something like, 'Some people just don't have a heart'."

The author said he knew how exhausting children can be, but felt that giving in had taught the little girl that she could get anything she wanted by throwing a tantrum.