As much as I fly, I had no idea that there were so many strong feelings associated with switching seats. But I’m learning more and more each day. It is a major thing. And while some people don’t seem to mind much, others cite many rules about when, where, and how one should switch assigned seats on an airplane.
All of these standards are just further complicated when children are involved. When one man tweeted about a scenario involving seating arrangements and a child, the whole thing went viral.
The man wondered why he was in the middle of a mom, dad, and their baby in the first place.
Sam Neve, a self-identified “former journo,” shared an interesting in-flight experience with this tweet.
“Just boarded a flight and I'm sat with a couple and their baby, but the husband refused to give up his aisle seat so now I'm just … in the middle of them?" the man tweeted.
Immediately, the dilemma caused a lot of conversation. It received over 6,000 likes and over 300 retweets.
Sam said the father seemed a little disconnected from his family.
In the replies to the many questions Sam received, he shared that the flight was two hours long. In addition to the peculiarity of the family not even attempting to sit together, Sam said that the father’s behavior was a little … distant.
“He stuck his headphones in, ate an entire pack of Haribo and didn’t talk to her for the entire two hour flight,” Sam explained.
Twitter users suggested the dad used Sam as a shield.
That last little tidbit assured some people that the father wanted to keep the seating arrangement so he could get a break from his child, his wife, or both of them.
"Let me guess, the mom is taking care of the baby while the husband uses you as a shield so he can chill out?" one person wrote in response.
Others thought Sam was wrong for wanting to switch seats in the first place. “He has a right to keep it and not move to the middle. Always you people who think your entitlement comes first. YOU bought the middle seat,” someone else replied.
It really does seem like an odd arrangement.
Again, people are passionate about this. But Sam was clear that he didn’t have a problem keeping his middle seat. He just thought the whole thing was strange.
He made sure to tweet, “Only a couple of hours, so no harm done — just a little odd!”
We have to agree with him.
