5.5 hour coast to coast flight. He boarded before me (aisle). I had to bend down and wave in his face to get him to see me during boarding (I had window). He did the whole audible sigh and dramatic show of how I had clearly inconvenienced him. He finally got up and out of his seat BUT refused to unplug his phone from the seat back charger in front of him, so all 5’ 10” of me had to crawl under his cord to get to my seat. Whatever, turd move, but whatever. Anyway, cabin door closes and I was pretty excited that the middle passenger didn’t show up—until Entiltled Aisle dude decides that all of his spent snack wrappers should be pushed as close to me as possible. And he was very particular about it. Spent several minutes ensuring each wrapper was pushed as close as possible to my seat. What is wrong with people!?!?
Entitled people get away with this stuff because people don't stand up for themselves. I'm only 5'0 and there is no fucking way I would be ducking under someone's cord
My people!! 🥹 4’10” for me & I couldn’t agree more. I’m treated very differently when I’m by myself vs having my 6’3” husband with me. My therapist says I’m empathetic to a fault, but when I encounter people like this I can go right the f*** off. If it pains someone to be nice or considerate, cool, but I’m then gonna need you to leave me alone. Going out of your way to be an asshole doesn’t work for me.
Anyway, this guy has the loser persona down pretty well, so at least we know he’s accomplished something. I don’t know why people are like this. Sorry you had to experience this.
I haven’t hit menopause but the older I get the more I understand my grandma. When I was a kid I thought she was kinda bitchy, but I totally get it now, and it turns out her and I are the most alike in the family, even she says so.
Absolutely, I’ve been stepped on and elbowed in the shoulder too many times before so I’ve learned to make my little 90lbs 4’11 3/4” body be as intimidating as possible because I WILL loudly ask you to move or whatever I need as I patiently wait for you to do so. I’m not afraid of a loud sigh and an awkward silence
Unfortunately the exact truth. When people are decent and take the “higher road”, these people feel emboldened in their disgusting behavior. Like spoiled children. And like spoiled children they need punishment through a strong reaction from someone enduring their shite
I would have very slowly and deliberately taken the air sick bag out, opened it up, stuck my hand in it, and used it as a mitt to push all the wrappers against his leg while staring at him and not blinking. If he said anything, I would have slowly reached up and pushed the attendant call button, all while staring at him and saying nothing.
I was always non confrontational in this way, but I lost my patience for entitled people. If I can clearly see that someone (like this guy) has zero respect and consideration for other people I start the interaction by letting them know I'm not someone to be pushed around, like unplugging their cord in this instance. If they escalate from there the staff can deal with him.
Hell yeah man don’t let other people get away with this shit. Confronting will make you feel worse in the beginning but putting a jerk to his/her place afterwards is a great joy.
But do not over hyped by some other commenters like assert dominance throw the cord away etc. Don’t put yourself in a position where you are the aggressor.
Hi, I am sorry so many people are being absolute assholes to you on this post. Like holy shit, people are throwing insults and name calling all because someone is afraid of confrontation?? And even going so far as to make this YOUR fault when clearly the person on the aisle was being an entitled dick? That is called victim blaming. Confrontation can be very scary for people with anxiety, and some people I have met with issues around confrontation came from a very conflict-ridden or abusive home. A little more empathy from people would go a long way here...
Probably when people proved that doxxing, threatening, punching, spitting on, or shooting someone over a minor thing was how shit’s going to be handled now.
That's the only answer to this behavior, who crawls under the cable!? Just unplug it, hand it to him (or drop it in his lap if he won't take it) and sit in your seat.
Absolutely insane to me that some people let others walk all over them like this. I’m sure the asshole felt emboldened as a result since he wasn’t called out. I’m not saying OP should start a fight but JFC don’t just roll over. I’m a pretty passive, non-confrontational person by nature too saying this
So emboldened that he started putting his trash/ wrappers as close to OP as he could. Can we all just stop letting these giant turd sandwiches walk all over us?
Took me until my 30s to stop letting people walk over me. I dont allow it now and I try not to engage at all. In this situation I would walk through the cable or unplug it. I would push their trash back. And if they ever said anything to me I would not respond. Stick up for yourself and dont join them on their level, ever.
Edit: this is of course if you can tell they are deliberately being a jerk. Most people you can still extend common courtesy to.
I agree, wholeheartedly. But, I've known people that absolutely hate conflict and will go out of their way to avoid it. I don't look down on them, but hope they can at some point become more confident.
I causally elbow and shoulder check people who wait right next to the baggage carousel when I go to retrieve my bag.
I work for the government, and I travel a lot. I’m also a rescue swimmer and have a large bag with my rescue gear to always get. I’m a straight up passive aggressive asshole to those waiting in my way. Like, how did you not see this happening?? 🤷🏻♂️
What about when you have a connecting flight to hurry up and make it to and it's at a gate clearly on the other end of of the airport and you think you can make up ground and get on those people-mover conveyor belts that run long corridors and somebody is just standing in the middle of it with their stupid bag at their feet just ...standing there blocking the way reading the paper? People are so lazy they will just stand there stationary as it moves them. That's a frustrating one.
I yelled at my mom and aunt the other weekend bc they got on one of those behind me and decided to just stand, next to each other!!!! Took up the whole width. I (like a normal human) was fast walking as soon as I got on. I sort of like pretending I have super speed lol. Turn around to see them being assholes, people rapidly approaching behind them. I probably looked like an ass bc there was no way to tell I was with them when I did it but I yelled "move the hell over!" at them and they were all like 😳
Ha, and people look so funny if they are standing stationary on those and you see them from the side perspective. It looks like they are humans being mass-produced in a factory.
They are missing out because if you step into that belt and walk at a brisk pace and look to the side at the advancing airport scenery you realize you are moving at the speed you'd imagine reaching if you had the energy and stamina to full on sprint with your bags to the gate. Like Natalie Harp trailing a Mar-A-Lago golf cart.
You have to counter entitlement by faking some degree of dementia. I would have bulldoze my way through the window seat and if cables, backpacks, snacks and anything else he didn't put away gets stomped thats on him and I'll pretend I didn't notice at all.
My favorite is to just pretend like you didn't see it. Walk right through it until it disconnects or more likely, the phone gets thrown to the ground. At that point, you "notice" it and say something along the lines of "oh wow, you probably should have unugged that, I didn't see it at all". Feigned ignorance with zero apology, all while making the other person realize how they could have prevented it.
I wouldn't have put my hands on their property. What I would have done was walked straight down the path to my seat. If their cable had still been in my way after asking nicely, then it would have probably ended up on the floor as a result.
This. Be dramatic about it. Get tangled. Do a pirouette. Fall over. Even acting class couldn’t make my performance better when I meet someone like this. And a lot of bathroom breaks, and walks around the plane. And those wrappers would have ended on his laptop.
I’m sorry but what the fuck do you mean you had to “crawl under his cord”? Why wouldn’t you, at minimum, ask him to unplug it so that you could get by? And then if he refuses, unplug it yourself? Are we all so afraid of conflict that we’d rather crawl underneath an easily removable cord than to just speak up?
I would ask politely for him to unplug it once so I can pass by to my seat. Then a second time (still politely) much louder so people around are made aware of the situation before I've reached my limit, because that's when I just walk through the cord while staying as close as possible to the USB port on the front seat. At the very least, the side with the cord slack should get yoinked right out of the phone port, but best case scenario, the whole phone comes flying out of his hands, bouncing off every hard surface/corner imaginable.
Then I would apologize while also finding a way to work in some form of the word "yoink," because I bet that would be like adding a cherry to the top of my tasty rage bait sundae.
You're asking a redditor to have a human interaction like a normal person. The people in this thread don't actually believe he would refuse to take the cord out of the outlet for one second to let someone get by when asked, maniacally laughing as he accrues hostages in his 5v prison, they're angry they have to say "excuse me could I get through real quick"
Also if the second image is supposed to be him putting his garbage as close to OP as possible… okay? Looks like it’s in center to me. If it’s a couple inches closer to you, who gives a shit? The flight attendant will come take it away in a bit.
OP is a baby. Get your mom to come travel with you next time so she can talk to the adults for you.
I didn't imply respectable - however - some people have serious anxiety issues and confrontation stresses them out to the point where they'd rather suck it up and post about it on Reddit later. I don't have a problem with these people. Everyone needs to figure out how to deal with their problems in the way that they feel achieves the best outcome. If sitting next to someone who OP can feel is pissed at her for confronting him stresses her more out than being the one pissed at him, so be it. There's plenty of other people in the world that can call that guy out for being an ass.
I’m just gonna unplug your phone for a sec. Let be just get that for you. Oh cool. We can share this middle seat. Imma scootch your trash on your side.”
Crawling under a cable is peak non-confrontational behavior there. A lot of this sub is that, because infuriating things, mildly or otherwise, happen less often to people who stand up for themselves.
OP, I can see why you were infuriated but there was no way I would’ve crawled under his charger even with the 5.5 hour flight. I would have been cordial and asked for the unplug and if that didn’t work, I would’ve done it myself. You dug yourself a hole by not standing up him there and that’s why he pushed his trash closer to you.
Yah i would have unplugged the cord, and once we got in the air, flipped the armrest up and turned sideways so i could rest my knee on my half of the middle seat. Or pushed the wrappers over and put my carryon bag on my side of the middle seat. Start playing games and i'll start building a wall.
Edit: on second thought, i would have insisted he unplug it, for a couple reasons, one it calls out his assholery to passengers around you, two, if anything goes wrong, he may attempt to lay the blame on me touching his shit, also it asserts more dominance by forcing them to deal with their shit, then dealing with it yourself. Let him make a stink about it, if the problem lasts long enough an attendant will come by to deal with the situation and force him to unplug it anyway to let you by because its a trip hazard.
I would’ve stood there for a few seconds waiting for him to unplug it. Then I would ask him to unplug it so that I can get into my seat. And I would completely ignore his heavy sighs as he unplugs the phone because now I’m getting to my seat and getting situated. There is absolutely no situation ever where I’m going to duck under somebody’s plugged in phone. That would never happen in the history of the entire world.
And if he decided he wasn’t going to unplug it himself, then and only then would I touch it to unplug it and then make a fuss about how I have to unplug his plug because I’m not ducking underneath his cord to get to my seat. It would all be very verbal and the people around us would know what was happening.
What's wrong with people letting someone walk all over you? Grow a spine OP, you'll never see this loser again. You're basically free to tell them off without repercussions.
Like, he doesn't unplug just say "sorry, but do you mind unplugging your phone?" All the passive agressiveness is un-neccessary. No clue he may just have genuinely not thought about it since it's a fairly new feature on SWA.
And people saying you should do things to damage the cable or throw his trash at him? All you're doing is inviting trouble for yourself. You throw trash at someone could be seen by another passenger as you trying to hit him. No one wants to be hauled through the airport in handcuffs because of some empty wrappers.
This post is a nothing burger. The guy was probably just caught off guard and was given no time to react/get the cord before OP started ree’ing.
The wrappers on the middle seat are irrelevant. Neither of them bought the seat thus neither of them have any right to complain about how it ends up being used. He beat OP to it. Simple as that.
The comment of him pushing the wrappers closer to them had me laughing out loud. Such an absurd victim complex.
Seriously! These minor inconveniences aren't even things I would notice, let alone take as passive-aggressive acts towards me that bothered me enough to fume silently about it, take pictures and post to Reddit about it. The only time I would maybe ever notice and care about this shit is when everything else is going wrong, I'm having a really annoying, shitty day and I'm incredibly sensitive to the most minor annoyances so I'm about to hit my breaking point with all the dumb shit going wrong.
If that's what happening with OP, I hope their day gets better because those days suuuuuck. If this is just normal though, dear lord, sounds like a really miserable life.
Just stand up to people, holy shit. These people do this because nobody calls them out. Unplug his shit if you can't pass and just use the middle seat like you want. Stop being afraid of conflict if you're clearly bothered.
I’m always hesitant to take these stories at face value. People like OP are so fuckin’ timid that these annoying yet common inconveniences feel like an assault on their personal liberties.
This person could have just been oblivious, but because OP won’t use their words, the interaction dialogue running in their head goes unheard.
As someone who used to be meek and no longer is, I hope you eventually make it to the, “fuck off” phase where you’re not afraid to be confrontational with people. It is liberating when you make it there.
You did not have to go under that cord. You easily could have asked him to remove it or unplugged it yourself if he was being a twat about it.
I’ve literally lost count of how many people post in this sub and others where people are nasty with their bare-ass feet in their space. Like how the hell do you not call someone out for that kind of behavior?
People need to have a mirror held up to their faces to show them their ugly behavior regardless of them having shame or not. They need to not see people won’t put up with that crap. Otherwise they’ll just keep doing it.
You are right It is so unbelievably liberating, and the thing is most people absolutely crumble when you show them you're not a door mat. They usually get sulky and bitter like the little toddler they are.
Yassss! I am also that bitch now! I used to get reallllly upset with any kind of harassment or confrontation and I was so nice. 🤮 I love the rare occasions I get to use my new found cuntiness, it is so empowering!
I've would just motion to him to unplug it while looking in his eyes. If he doesn't budge then unplug it myself and give it to him, here you go asshole. There's no way I would crawl underneath it. I'm 6 2 but even if I was 5 10.
Mate you enable this behavior by not unplugging his cable but going below it. That’s such a bitch move you cannot be mad after you did that. Or atleast ask him to move it away. Also if he doesn’t notice him just touch him and ask him to get up
yet another post about someone In public that inconveniences the op but they refuse to do or say anything. like why post lol, we're not gonna yell at him for you
Or just walk right thru it. Step into your seat and when the cord pulls the phone clattering to the floor be all like "what was THAT?! A phone? A phone cord? Hunh, that's weird" then let a clusterf--- ensue where the cord is tangled in whatever you're holding and the phone gets kicked a few rows back...
What the f… you passed under the cord? I’m sorry, but you are extremely passive and taking hidden pictures and complaining online will not take you anywhere in life. Change.
At some point you’ve got to stop being terrified of confrontation. Just unplug the cable rather than let some nobody make you fuckin conga to your seat. Throw that shit on the floor.
Unplug it instead of crawling under it. If you wanna be super polite (not required by any means) you can plug it back in behind you.
As for the rest, it's an unspoken rule if the middle seat is open you can both share it to place various things and even use the tray so you can both have laptops out and place your drinks on the middle tray. (His wrappers are not "as close as physically possible" to you, theyre in the middle of the seat)
Seems like you just lack assertiveness and are probably a passive-aggressive pussy
I would have unplugged it and handed it to him or dropped it on the floor. I match energy and I do not suffer arrogant men. I also would have handed his wrappers back to him. His attitude would have made my life’s purpose for the duration of the trip to make his life even more miserable than it already is.
He chose an aisle seat. Sure, he can have some more leg room by putting his feet in the aisle but that seat comes with the consequence of having to move yourself and your belongings every time the window or middle seat needs to get up. Deal with it.
I flew a few weeks ago and made sure I only used half of the unoccupied seat between me and another passenger in case the other person wanted to use some of it too, and he did. No words were spoken, it was just understood - we were following the social contract. It’s not that fucking hard.
Years ago I was on a Singapore Airlines flight, Adelaide to Singapore direct. Night flight, i was maybe 19.
The gentleman behind me spent the majority of the flight attempting to sleep. I wouldn't say that is ever an issue, except he decided it'd be a great idea to wrap his arms round the headrest in front of him. The one my head was currently resting on, as I slept.
I would awake to two hands clutching the sides of my head, fumbling for a vacant space, and then pulling quite hard again my seat back as he attempting to find comfort.
The first time, I punched the back of his hand, and he withdrew them. The second time, i grabbed the same hand and lightly twisted his wrist (there are better ways to have solved this, but I was tired and cranky).
The last time (that I can recall), I turned around and slammed by elbow into his forearm wrapped around my seat. He yelped, then yelled at me, then called for a steward. When she appeared, he spoke to her in what i assume was Singaporean.
When she asked me what had happened, qn old lady had stood up for me and said the guy had been a nuisance all flight, had kept touching me, my hair, the chair back etc.
He was moved,, and that's the last I can remember. I slept the rest of the flight and had no more problems. I cant imagine what would possess someone to actively interfere with a stranger on a flight in that way.
And ask him not to put the trash next to you? If he refuses slide it back his way anyway. Same for the cord, if he’s a real dick and refuses to move it, pull it out yourself or take the more dick move and walk through the cord essentially pulling it off his head or out the plug
Who the fuck cares about empty snack wrappers slightly off center in the seat next to them. This person walks through life looking to be offended and makes a mountain out of a mole hill (in there own head) at the imaginary slight.
Edit: This makes me question the whole phone charger story. What person is risking their cord being accidentally ripped out and damaged by a stranger navigating a tight space.
Man, I'd just unplug his shit and hand it to him all sweet and be like thank you so much sweetie. And completely ignore that he seemed annoyed. I'm not bending under that. And he can be annoyed it he wants. I'm not letting it affect me.
As long as the snack wrappers aren't touching me or anything I don't care. But like, there's a seat pocket in front of him. Just use that like other normal humans do when they hold their trash until the attendants come by.
In that situation you just go through the cord. It will pop out of the plug one way or another or will it yank their phone out of the hand to the floor
. If it breaks it breaks.
He doesn't want to unplug his cord? Why are you ducking under it? Walk through it. If his shit gets damaged, that's his problem.
Flick the wrappers back towards him. If he gets pissy, raise your voice just a little above normal level and tell him you don't want his trash. I find pettiness is a great way to entertain myself on a flight when someone else wants to be an ass.
So, you didn't unplug his phone to get to your seat and crawled under the cord instead, you set the tone, he saw what a weak willed pushover you are right there in that moment.
I would have gone to the bathroom every 15 minutes for the entire flight. The reason shit like this keep happening in because of people like op who refuse to stand for themselves.
I would have asked dude to move the cord and said thank you. Next step would have been a call button. Crawling underneath… then telling Reddit you did so is mildly infuriating.
Next time don’t take someones shit, his cord was very easy to remove rather than you bending because of his inconsideration. If it were me i would have also told him that we’re on a public plane not in his living room where he could be as sloppy as he wanted. Some people are dicks but that doesn’t mean you have to just take it.
Needed to assert dominance by ripping the cable out of the charger and launching it down the plane. If you had done that no way you get used as his personal landfill site.
I remember just before boarding a flight to Asia (London to Singapore) a middle aged bloke that had previously pushed through the baggage checking line by saying my mum's up ahead and pushing past everyone... only to stand on his own then tried the same move on the literal steps going to board my plane. He got to just before me and I spun around bag blocking the walk way looked him dead in the eyes and said No wait your turn were all leaving at the same time don't be a c**t. Felt good!(Then everyone clapped and I did a bow)
I haven't run into the USB chargers, but in the old days people wouldn't move shit when I had to go to the bathroom. So I just moved it. I was very direct, stared them right in the goddamn eye while I did it, and made it clear why I was doing it.
If you're in an aisle seat, you are the gatekeeper to the bathroom. It is your responsibility to be kind and polite to all who need to pass through.
At first I was pissed at OP then I realized how much of a genius this karma farmer is. I bet that guy in the seat didn’t do anything and this whole story was fabricated
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u/BigGreenBillyGoat 4d ago edited 4d ago
You failed to assert dominance by unplugging his phone and tossing the cord at him, then throwing your extra stuff in the middle seat.
I’d have even put the armrest up.