No . . . The classy thing to do would have been to choose other options and to allow the gentleman next to you to sit peacefully during his two hour flight.

The classy thing to do would have been to exercise your options and not to have burdened the man beside you. You could have made your flight reservations well enough in advance that your seats would have been together. You could have upgraded to first class and sat together or you could have waited for a later flight. Or today you could demonstrate some class yourself and recognize that you had other options in which you didn't choose and you could stop blaming others for your sense of entitlement.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In order to answer tge question many are aaking about whether I paid extra for the seat, i have to reveal that i was the pregnant lady in this scenario. I framed the post differently to avoid the nastiness and ridicule about me being nervous as a FTM on my first flight pregnant, and wanting to sit next to DH.
So, i dont know if the guy paid extra for the seat but I didn't -- i iust "lucked into it," as a PP said. So perhaps he did, too.

Also, as soon as we realized that we were not seated totether, we tried to change it at both check-in AND at the gate, and both times we were advised to just ask a fellow passenger to switch.

Obviously, i feel that the guy was not required to change seats, but that it would have been the classy and kind thing to do. I certainly would have done it if i had been asked.

Why didn't you get assigned seats when you bought the tickets?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think OP was a jerk, but she probably came across as one to her seat mate.
With all the stupid changes the airlines does now by charging extra for aisle and window seats, or even by what section of COACH you are in, makes it much harder for people to be accommodating to seat switching.
Heck, even if OP did luck into a great seat, why should she make herself unhappy with a crappier seat to make them happy?

This is actually a huge subject of debate in philosophy: is the "right thing to do" what makes me happiest? Or is the "right thing to do" the thing that gives the greatest total happiness to the greatest number of people? (Well that's a gross oversimplification, but it'll do for now.) Sometimes it's not just about "me," it's also about the greater good.

So I don't think OP was a jerk. But PP's argument, that "I've got it and you can't have it" seems like the wrong approach, to me. And a bad foundation for society.

huh?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In order to answer tge question many are aaking about whether I paid extra for the seat, i have to reveal that i was the pregnant lady in this scenario. I framed the post differently to avoid the nastiness and ridicule about me being nervous as a FTM on my first flight pregnant, and wanting to sit next to DH.
So, i dont know if the guy paid extra for the seat but I didn't -- i iust "lucked into it," as a PP said. So perhaps he did, too.

Also, as soon as we realized that we were not seated totether, we tried to change it at both check-in AND at the gate, and both times we were advised to just ask a fellow passenger to switch.

Obviously, i feel that the guy was not required to change seats, but that it would have been the classy and kind thing to do. I certainly would have done it if i had been asked.

So you don't think he was required to, but you think he's a jerk for not doing it. Like you said, you don't know how much he paid for his seat, you also don't know why the extra leg room is important to him. It's not wrong of you to have asked, but you shouldn't think someone's a jerk for saying no. You are all adults and it's a short flight, so who really cares?

Anonymous wrote:Depends how tall you are. If it was actually about the leg room, you are not being a jerk. If it was about the money, I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to label you a jerk but you could have chosen to be generous.

Oh, please. I'm 5 feet tall, but I earned my premier status and would not just give up my seat simply because someone wanted to sit next to their husband and were unlucky enough not to get seats together.

Anonymous wrote:I don't think OP was a jerk, but she probably came across as one to her seat mate.
With all the stupid changes the airlines does now by charging extra for aisle and window seats, or even by what section of COACH you are in, makes it much harder for people to be accommodating to seat switching.
Heck, even if OP did luck into a great seat, why should she make herself unhappy with a crappier seat to make them happy?

This is actually a huge subject of debate in philosophy: is the "right thing to do" what makes me happiest? Or is the "right thing to do" the thing that gives the greatest total happiness to the greatest number of people? (Well that's a gross oversimplification, but it'll do for now.) Sometimes it's not just about "me," it's also about the greater good.

So I don't think OP was a jerk. But PP's argument, that "I've got it and you can't have it" seems like the wrong approach, to me. And a bad foundation for society.

OP here. In order to answer tge question many are aaking about whether I paid extra for the seat, i have to reveal that i was the pregnant lady in this scenario. I framed the post differently to avoid the nastiness and ridicule about me being nervous as a FTM on my first flight pregnant, and wanting to sit next to DH.
So, i dont know if the guy paid extra for the seat but I didn't -- i iust "lucked into it," as a PP said. So perhaps he did, too.

Also, as soon as we realized that we were not seated totether, we tried to change it at both check-in AND at the gate, and both times we were advised to just ask a fellow passenger to switch.

Obviously, i feel that the guy was not required to change seats, but that it would have been the classy and kind thing to do. I certainly would have done it if i had been asked.

Not at all. Air travel has become such a miserable experience in recent years that no one should expect any special consideration from other passengers. We are pushed, poked, prodded, and jammed into seats that would make a large child uncomfortable. If it's important to people that they sit together they need to have the foresight to plan accordingly.

Recently when I was flying American Airlines the flight attendant asked over the loudspeaker that anyone who may have had a computer bag in an overhead bin to please take it out and to place it under their seat. Well it seems that no one responded to that request so a few moments later he asked that we all be good citizens and that we should think about our fellow passengers needs and that we should make room for other people's belongs in the overhead bins.

I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy who was asking me to be a good and responsible citizen. Why was he not asking American Airlines why they charge $25 to check your suitcases and why was he not asking the people who were carrying-on luggage the size of small steamer trunks to be good citizens and to stop taking up so much space.

I followed the rules, I checked my bags, I paid my duty, I was seated with my seatbelt buckled, and I didn't budge.

Anonymous wrote:If it was that important to sit together, his wife could have moved back. I'm sure the person I the husbands row would have swapped.

I would have said "no" as well. The leg room is important to me.

+1 the ONLY way to trade is to trade back.

Being pregnant is not an excuse to get freebie.

I don't think OP was a jerk, but she probably came across as one to her seat mate.
With all the stupid changes the airlines does now by charging extra for aisle and window seats, or even by what section of COACH you are in, makes it much harder for people to be accommodating to seat switching.
Heck, even if OP did luck into a great seat, why should she make herself unhappy with a crappier seat to make them happy?

Not a jerk in the least. No reason why an adult woman can't sit by herself for 2 hours. This isn't a child. If it was extremely important for them to be together for some odd reason then they could have paid to reserve seats. The husband asked politely, OP declined - no one was a jerk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

OP hasn't addressed whether or not she/he paid extra. I'm thinking no.

If its the same poster asking "did you pay?? did you pay??" OMG... let it go.
It was the OP's assigned seat. It was her's to give (or not) and maybe she actually has better things to do this morning that respond immediately to your question. No need to post it every 5 minutes.

I posted it once, not sure who else did. But, calm down.