Refused to give up window seat to a kid

[melvinj0]

Can't stand when parents have the whole "My kid is my world so you should care about his feelings as much as I do" mentality. I don't care about your kid at all, it's just a kid to me and tbh I'd rather crush a kids feelings than an adults since the kid is more likely to get over it and move on.

 

[t3c9]

Did you just wake me up to ask me that? Don't bother me again.

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

I don't have a problem with the initial request and don't have a problem with you saying no.

I probably would have offered him the window for the last 20 mins for the landing.

That's kind and reasonable. Just know that you would have gotten an even worse response from them. They'd be giving you the stink-eye the whole time, like you shorted their kid on something he deserved.

I know how people think. It's even more obvious how entitled selfish people think. It's like "oh so you COULD afford to give the window and you still chose to hog it until the last piddly few minutes, you absolute scum"

 

[fightingrabbit]

Don't understand parents like that. "Give your seat to my kid" wtf? My parents wouldn't even have me ask, "no, this is your seat and that's his". The end.

This so much. My parents would have put me in my place. I would do the same to my kids. In fact, If I saw that the parents didn't want their kid to bother me for the seat, I'd be more inclined to give it to him.

 

[Kowboy Karl]

Blackberry lives matter

 

[Iroh]

Fuck the kid. Figuratively.

 

[mushishi]

It's your seat. Shrugs.

I always try to get aisle seats in the emergency exit rows on my flights--more legroom and easy access to restroom and drinks (flights are so dehydrating). One flight I sat my my emergency row aisle seat and this really tall teenager got the window. Only problem was the plane was one of those planes that has a huge hump on the exit doors. Dude looked at the hump and let out this huge sigh of anger and frustration. His dad asked if his son and I could switch seats. I said no. Dude's dad just looked at me for a while and left. It was my seat. Shrugs.

 

[dabausplaya]

The parents are idiots for encouraging their kid to ask you that.

 

[MarloStanfield]

I know the Mayberry is wholly comprised of cool, assertive gentlemen who, aside from never flying coach, certainly wouldn't suffer ruffled feathers over trivial incidents such as this. Nevertheless, try to relate as best you can, and cast forth your judgements.

I spent the last 2 days in Minneapolis for my sister's wedding, just returning early this afternoon. The return flight to Los Angeles was around 3.5 hours. Running on insufficient sleep from an eventful weekend, and mildly hungover, it was a pleasant little bit of luck that I was assigned a window seat wherein I could rest my head against the wall and not have to worry about moving out of the way for other passengers mid-flight.

It so happened that the passenger next to me was a kid of about 9 years of age, and his mother to the left of him. Directly across the aisle sat his father.
So sometime before take-off, I overheard this kid start telling his mom that he wanted to sit by the window, and what followed amid hushed whispers were two discernible words that sent a reverberating "FFFFFUUUUUU" through my brain. "Ask Him."

I tried to make myself unapproachable. I really did. Pretending to be asleep; don't-bother-me eyes; poor hearing; I tried them all, in that order. But this kid was persistent. When I politely declined to give up my seat, his mom who was tuned in to what was happening gave me a quick, unfriendly glare, and then turned to her husband, a yuppie-looking 30-something. A moment later he looks at me and says "C'mon, he's a kid, please let him have it." By this time I'm noticing more unfriendly glances directed my way from nearby passengers, and I'm feeling rather annoyed. "Look," I replied with forced frivolousness. "your kid is already going to enjoy this flight about 10 times more than I am. Why increase that disparity?" To which he just squinted his eyes at me and shook his head disparagingly, saying "That's some bizarre logic, man." Annoyed as I was, I took a more direct approach: "Sorry. This is my seat, so I'm going to sit here." And that was that.

Cast your stones!

---------------------------------------------------

FWIW: I'm in my early 30's. The kid's mother was attractive. The dad probably could kick my ass.

tl/dr: kid sitting next to me on 3.5 hour flight asked me to trade places. Like an ogre, I declined.

youre a selfish prick

 

[Rhood]

So had you traded seats with the kid you would be sitting in between the mom and the kid?

Fuck that jazz.

Bingo! The more logical explanation for the dad would be for the child to switch seats with the other adult sitting in the window seat closer to him on the other aisle. That way 3 adults are sitting next on the right side.

Child/Adult/Dad [ ...... ] Mom/Adult/TS

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

I am a parent, and I wouldn't have advised my kids to do that, and I would have picked up on your clear non verbal communication to leave you alone. The parents were wrong, and it was up to you when they were presumptuous enough to tell their kid to ask you. When you said no, they should have backed off. You have nothing to feel bad about, they had poor manners, both in asking, and in giving you lip about not wanting to switch seats.

And in the future, when you want to be left alone, close your eyes and hold the air sick bag conspicuously.

 

[RedRocket44]

After thinking about it, it's not really even cool that they asked.

Many airlines charge a fee for reserved / preferred seating - they don't know if you paid extra to reserve that specific seat. If I went out of my way to pay extra to have that seat, I obviously want it, giving me the difference in what I paid to reserve the seat isn't going to matter.

If it's that important do what other people do and reserve your seat, or check in early and ask for an available window seat. If your in a hurry or can't bother to plan ahead and realize your kid probably wants to look out the window of a plane tough shit.

 

[DaleBoca]

So, how was your sister's wedding? You went solo, so..... Anything happen?

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

And, ignore what nearby citizens are responding in regards to kids. When you get annoyed and speak firmly to your kids, they look at you like you are an abuser, but if your kids cry too loudly or get cranky, they want you to hit them and look at you like you are not strict enough. When your kids get sad pathetic tearful faces when they don't get a toy/candy/ice cream/etc., they look at you like you are too strict and some will even shill for the kids to get what they want, but if the kids start whining, the same people will look at you like you are a bad parent who spoils your kid.

 

[Zezima]

You did the right thing the kid would look out of the window for 5 mins then play on his iPad, getting up to pee every 5 minutes or constantly passing stuff between his parents, would have been a disaster.

Letting kids have everything is how they grow up to be spoilt and lazy, IMO the parents should have thanked you.

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

You should've banged the wife, laughed at the dad, and beat the kid's ass.

Not necessarily in that order.

Should've beat the wife, banged the kid, and laughed at the dad's ass.

 

[Codger]

I've got kids. I wouldn't even let them ask for that seat since you might feel obliged even though you don't want to.

They're the selfish ones.

 

[bortt]

The only answer I can come up with is that TS is either a complete jerk... Or he had a shit childhood.

Selflessly giving up the seat would have been the nice thing to do. No argument from me there. But does not giving up the seat really make me a complete jerk?

Are you really so noble for offering up your seat in theory, while lambasting me as a piece of shit? You come across as inanely self-righteous.

TS strikes me as the kind of guy that wouldn't play along and pretend to be shot if a kid 'shot' him with a fake gun.

And you strike me as the kind of guy that would change his beliefs in order to align them with his drunken, free-thinking guru. Come to think of it, I know of another guy who was a complete jerk and had a shit childhood...

 

[Chaos Spawn]

i would have offered to sell the seat for $250 in cold hard cash.

 

[Cake4Breakfast]

Can't stand when parents have the whole "My kid is my world so you should care about his feelings as much as I do" mentality. I don't care about your kid at all, it's just a kid to me and tbh I'd rather crush a kids feelings than an adults since the kid is more likely to get over it and move on.

The parents in this story bugged me a lot, but fyi, you have got some deep issues if your post is accurate in regard to your feelings about kids.