A man has sparked a debate on Reddit after he admitted to making an 'obese' passenger pay him an extra $100 because he took up part of his seat.
The supposed incident was reported on the infamous subreddit "Am I The A**hole?' where the user asked: 'AITA for making an obese man pay me cash to take up part of my seat on a long flight?'
According to the man he was on a 5-hour cross-country flight where he had purposefully booked an aisle seat in a row of just two meaning there was no middle seat; just an aisle and a window seat.
The user said that he saw the other passenger coming and was 'crossing his fingers' that he wasn't sitting next to him but sure enough he was.
The man continues: "I get up and let him in politely, wanting to at least give him a chance. Well, he sits down and is easily seeping into about 1/3 of my seat. I sit down and am pressed up against him, making me uncomfortable. After a minute, I decided to be upfront and tell him:
“Sir, I’m sorry but this situation is not working for me, you’re taking up quite a bit of my seat”. He added that the passenger just gave him a 'shrug' and tried to make himself narrower by tightening his arms but did little to appease the disgruntled man.
He eventually decided to consult an air stewardess who told him the only way he they could resolve the issue was to buy another seat or book another flight. There were no other seats available on the plane though and the man admitted that he couldn't wait for a later flight, that's when he decided to make the 'obese' man an offer:
"Look, I’ll put up with this if you give me $150 — that’s half the cost of this flight and that would compensate me enough for the circumstances."
Amazingly, he claimed that the other man instantly agreed to this deal and not only paid him in cash but also told him that he 'appreciated' it.
However, despite both men reportedly being happy with the resolution the man claimed that others on board were quietly judging him and branded him an 'a**hole' for making the other man pay to sit next to him.
Needless to say many felt the man was out of order for the way he acted. One person said: "The problem here was that this large dude stuck you with being uncomfortable on your flight, right? Well, the $150 didn't make you any less squished in your seat, so it really feels like you just blackmailed this guy for being fat."
Another wrote: "This is ridiculous. You made a scene and embarrassed the man and then made him pay you for a fraction of your seat. You are the epitome of an a**hole."
A third added: "You didn’t settle this privately—you humiliated the guy by involving the flight attendant and then demanding $150 to allow him to stay on this flight."
Some did defend him though feeling that the other man and the airline were in the wrong. One said: "He should have bought two seats, this is his fault, in fact he got off well with it. He agreed and you agreed. I am sure if the people behind you were in the same position they would have thought differently."
A second person wrote: "You compromised. He compromised. It was an awkward situation of nobody's making. I think half the cost of the flight was maybe a bit steep though, if he was only in a third of your seat. Having said that, five hours is a long time."
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