Man praised online for refusing to swap seats with pregnant lady

An airline passenger is making waves online for refusing to swap seats with a pregnant woman — some of whom are praising him for sticking up to the “entitled” passenger.

The man, whose username is michaeldonnelly, wrote about his situation on Reddit earlier this month in a post asking other users to assess whether he was in the wrong.

“I was flying by myself on a 5+ hour flight to visit family over the holidays. I specifically booked and paid extra for an aisle seat in the second-to-last row because I have medical issues that sometimes require quick access to the bathroom,” he wrote.

“Right before boarding, a woman asked me to give up my seat so she could sit closer to the bathroom. She was pregnant but did not seem distressed,” he continued, adding that although he empathized with her situation, he thought it was unfair to be asked to leave a seat he paid for to accommodate his medical condition.

The man said the woman even tried in vain to get the flight attendants to mediate the situation after he declined to switch seats, but noted that he incurred the wrath of his own family, who believed that he “should have inconvenienced myself and given up my seat.”

Commenters quickly came in droves to the defense of the poster with most chiding the woman for a combination of poor planning, entitlement and being cheap.

“She should have booked another seat she wanted herself or not gone on the flight. Seems she just assumed she wouldn’t have to pay for it, since some sucker was going to move,” wrote one person.

“The flight attendants are at fault for not mediating. At some point they should have told her to go back to her seat,” they added, explaining that their reasoning did not even factor in the user’s medical problem.

Other users chastised the woman for resorting to “public shaming,” with one saying her attempt to involve the flight attendants was an indication she wanted to “guilt the person into swapping.”

“Because she felt entitled to it because she was pregnant. She thought she could use that to her advantage. But, she found out she couldn’t. And rightfully so OP!!! You booked and paid for that seat,” one commenter said.

Even other pregnant women were among the Reddit users that came to the original poster’s defense.

“As a pregnant woman with Crohn’s, I also vote OP is NTA! [not at fault] It’s fine if people offer me pregnancy privilege but I sure as hell am not going to demand it! And knowing my constraints, I book the seats I need,” the woman said.

Another commenter claimed that pregnant women and brides were responsible for “the majority of the bad behavior on this site,” adding, “I’m just really tired of stories from both.”

After a litany of affirming messages, the poster weighed back in to agree with a user who suggested the woman sized up all the other aisle passengers and targeted him.

“I must have looked the easiest pushover,” he wrote.