A man has questioned whether he was in the wrong for refusing to move from his seat at the cinema to allow a mother to sit next to her young daughter to watch Barbie together.
In a post to Reddit's "Am I the A**hole?" forum, the man outlined the situation and wanted to see if other people agreed with his actions or not.
Like many people recently, the man went to the cinema with his girlfriend to go watch the Barbie movie after purchasing their tickets a few days in advance.
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The couple ensured they got seats next to each other which were located in the middle row, however things didn't go exactly to plan upon arrival.
"When we got into the theater a woman and her daughter were in our seats. I’m not sure how old the daughter was but she looked about 5 or 6," he wrote.
"I let the woman know that they were our seats and I even showed her the tickets. She said when she purchased her tickets they only had two seats available, one in the front row and another in the far back
He continued: "She said she wanted to sit next to her daughter and she didn’t want her sitting that far away from her so she asked if my girlfriend and I could swap seats."
In response, the man told the mother that it "wasn't [his] problem and [he] paid for those seats," and added how he "politely asked" her to move from their chair.
"The woman said she understood I paid for the seats but I didn’t have to be rude and inconsiderate."
Another cinemagoer overheard the conversation and offered to swap seats with the mother and daughter.
"As we were leaving the theater my girlfriend said she felt bad for the woman and giving up our seats would’ve been the right thing to do and I was being a bit inconsiderate."
"At first I didn’t think I did anything wrong, I paid for those seats and the woman purchased the tickets knowing she wouldn’t be able to sit with her daughter."
The man concluded: "Now I’m starting to feel a little bad because of what my girlfriend and the woman said. AITA?"
Since sharing his situation, everyone appears to have sided with the man and so believes he's not the a**hole because he had booked the tickets in advance and believes the mother should have done the same if she wanted to sit next to her daughter.
One person said: "NTA the woman should have chosen a different movie time instead of assuming people would move for her. She was being inconsiderate to her own daughter in the situation no one would move."
"NTA. The woman purchased the two tickets far apart," another person said.
"It was her decision, and it was a bad one, as her child is too small to send off to sit by herself."
Someone else added: "NTA. Poor planning on their part does not constitute an emergency on your part."
"They could have planned better or chosen a showing at a different time. You were not required to switch seats. Not sure I'd want to if I went to a movie with my SO as I'd want to watch with them."
"NTA. I am a parent. If I can’t find seats together, I don’t buy the tickets. This applies to plane tickets, movie tickets, live theater tickets," a fourth person commented.
"Her lack of planning should not be your problem."
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