An airline fiasco has quickly taken Reddit by storm, sparking well over 4,000 reactions and an astounding 2,000 comments in a mere 15 hours.
An eighteen-year-old man, flying to his homeland (which he chose not to name), was barely on board for his second connecting flight – what would be a 12-hour journey – when the situation quickly deteriorated.
“I had the delightful sight of an obese man who was taking up a good chunk of my seat,” the man, who identified as “L4l0_Salamanca,” posted on the Reddit page commonly known as AITA. (“Am I the a–hole”).
Without any reservations, the man further articulated his position on the matter “I am not a small guy myself. I have quite broad shoulders and am around 190 cm [nearly 6 feet 3], so a full seat would already have been uncomfortable.”
He continued, “I told the flight attendant about this issue, and she told me that the seat was paid for by this obese person and the flight was full.”
The man added, “I asked the flight attendant how it’s possible that my seat still rendered as available if it was being used for someone’s literal rolls.”
Continuing on, he stated… “I then added on how this airline wasn’t absolutely terrible just a few years ago (it wasn’t just this incident; they just went downhill in quality).”
Further elaborating, the Reddit writer noted that “These comments prompted the flight attendant to call me rude and just made her double down on [having me] kicked off the plane — though she reassured me I’d be compensated for this trouble, as I told her I wasn’t traveling for vacation.”
Then he provided more details: “The fat man took his opportunity to call me a fatphobic s–t. Some other people around gave me the stink eye.”
He went on, “I know they think I’m a bad person for this, but on the other hand, I’m having to pay for the lack of discipline of another person as well as this sh—y airline’s booking system.”
He continued, “The airline staff sent a letter of complaint that I got appealed and the consequences in the complaint (being a temporary ban) were removed less than an hour later.”
He also added, “In the letter of complaint, it said I was being rude to other passengers and the staff. Since it got appealed so quick and I got to travel the next day anyway, I’m really not sure if I’m TA [the a–hole].”
Finally, the man asked, “AITA for my comments that have offended both the fat man and the airline staff?”
Fox News Digital consulted a psychologist to gain a deeper understanding of the dispute.
Redditors were not shy in expressing their opinions on the initial poster’s inquiry.
As one commenter noted, “It probably would’ve been handled very differently if you had handled it differently.”
This person continued, “I know air travel can make people turn into idiots, so please everyone, don’t be that idiot.”
In response to the incident, someone in the comments section was blunt and called out the original poster for their behavior on board that flight. They labeled them an “a–hole”.
This person said, “The statement ‘the lack of discipline’ got me to vote this way. Sure, maybe this guy had a lack of discipline. But maybe he has a medical issue that keeps him from losing the weight.”
Another person wrote, “I’m also a tall and broad-shouldered person. But learn some damn tact.”
This person continued, “[The original poster] WAS fat-shaming the guy. Did he even TRY asking the dude to move over a bit or did he go straight to b—-ing at the flight attendant?”
Finally, concluded with: “Learn some diplomacy.”
In support of the airline personnel, another individual said: “Flight attendant can’t really do much unless there is an empty seat they could have [put] him in. They don’t make airline policy.”
Another said: “It’s interesting he says that he shouldn’t have to deal with someone else’s lack of discipline — yet he made the entire plane deal with his as he threw his baby tantrum.”
