Mother and daughter blocked the middle seat with luggage and refused to give their seatmate room — what followed made the flight unbearable
Mistakes are a part of life. While some people apologize and correct them, others let their sense of entitlement take over. A traveler who goes by u/Seuss_Pantaloons encountered two passengers who had mistaken their seats. However, after the incident ended on a good note, it was time for them to board their connecting flight. As they boarded, they noticed that two overweight passengers, a mother and her daughter, had placed their luggage on the middle seat. While the traveler was trying to be understanding of their difficulties, the duo chose not to accommodate. On July 9, 2026, the Reddit user shared how the rest of their flight turned into a nightmare they could never forget.
After the traveler politely asked them to move their things, they reluctantly agreed. "The daughter grumbles the whole time she is struggling to put her bag under the seat," they noted. Since the passengers were struggling to fit into their seats, they insisted on keeping the armrest up, which irked the traveler. "Even with the armrest down, they both overflowed in my seat," they noted. However, they soon became a nuisance when they began to encroach on the traveler's space, making them feel uncomfortable throughout the journey. The traveler even asked if they needed to switch seats, but the duo turned down the offer.
Recalling the earlier flight, the traveler noted that they had encountered other passengers who were polite and not entitled. At first, they came across a hippie woman who had mistakenly occupied the user's seat. However, after being informed about the error, she immediately moved to her assigned seat. Later, the traveler encountered an older couple who were confused about their seats, but after it was clarified, they offered the traveler a piece of gum and chocolate as an apology.
The traveler's post prompted reactions from other internet users. u/TheInitialGod commented, "I'm guessing they bought the window and the aisle seats in the hopes that nobody would take the middle seat and they could sprawl, but it being a full flight messed up their plans." u/Rulebreaker15 wrote, "Tons of people do this and some of them take it out on the middle seat person for just showing up." u/SunshinePrincess21 shared, "Are clipboards allowed in your carry-on? If you put one on each side of your middle seat before you sat down, would they protect your space? Just wondering."
Some passengers can be more entitled than you could ever imagine. In another story, a woman named Ashley Shaw noticed a passenger seated in her assigned seat. However, instead of apologizing for her mistake and moving to her seat, she asked Shaw, "Do you really want your seat?" She also continued to appear irritated when Shaw said yes. The woman also uttered "ridiculous" in the midst of the commotion, making the situation even more awkward.