Woman praised for response to mum who asked her to move plane seats for ‘6ft5 son'

Mums and their sons, eh.

This traveller learned about the overprotectiveness of some parents the hard way during a hellish plane journey.

Surya Garg, 23, reckons she got lumbered with the 'absolute worst person to sit next to on an airplane' on the flight.

She explained she ended up in quite the awkward seat swap situation after the female passenger asked whether she would move to accomodate her son - who was '6ft 5in' and a 'minimum of 16 or 17 years old'.

In a TikTok video detailing her travel dilemma, Surya said: "My philosophy is, if it's like a mum and a dad or a mum and a little kid, even though its annoying and you'd hope they would have planned better, I'm going to give up my seat.

"You have little children, like its not a big deal."

The New York-based content creator said she remembers other people giving up their seats for her and her brother when they were younger, so she doesn't mind returning the favour these days.

Surya admitted she would 'definitely hesitate more' if she was donating an aisle or window seat and getting stuck with the middle one in return - especially if she has paid more money for it, which she had on this occasion.

"Normally, people don't ask you to do that," she continued. "Tonight, I not only got asked to give up my window seat so that I could sit in a middle seat, but the 'family' that asked me to do this was a mother and her son - who had to be a minimum of like 16 or 17 years old."

The social media user said the lad was obliviously chatting to his girlfriend on the phone for the entire time they were boarding the plane and continued 'gabbing' when he sat down, 'barely paying attention' to his mother.

Surya said: "This was not her child. It was her kid, but he's an adult."

She had got herself comfy in her window seat when she was approached by the boy's mother who asked her to switch seats in exchange for his middle seat a few rows back.

The TikToker explained: "And then she points to this 6ft 5in man!

"I don't know what to say because I don't want to and I don't really think she deserves for me to, because this is definitely just a case of bad planning. I don't want to look like an a-hole but... I don't think I'm an a-hole in the situation.

"So I said, 'no look I'm sorry but I paid extra for this seat, I think I'm just going to sit in the seat I paid for'."

Surya claimed the woman then made the 'nastiest face' she's 'ever experienced' at her and furiously plonked herself back in her middle seat while ushering her son back to his a few rows back.

But it wasn't over there.

The flyer added: "I kid you not, under her breath for the entirety of the flight, she is just like muttering profanities at me."

Plane etiquette seems to have gone completely out of the window on this journey through the skies, but social media users reassured Surya she had handled the situation brilliantly.

One commented: "I would have definitely called her out. You did nothing wrong!"

Another said: "I don't know why she expected you to give up your window seat so she can sit next to her grown up son?"

A third wrote: "She had the opportunity to choose and pay for her seat. That's a no for me as well. If it were a young child, perhaps. A teen? No, plan better next time."

A fourth added: "I think airlines should post signs stating 'no switching seats'."

And a fifth chimed in: "It's a shame you had to sit next to her the whole way with her rude behaviour. What a nightmare."

Featured Image Credit: TikTok/surya_garg

Topics: Plane Etiquette, Travel, TikTok

Olivia Burke

Olivia is a journalist at LADbible Group with more than five years of experience and has worked for a number of top publishers, including News UK. She also enjoys writing food reviews (as well as the eating part). She is a stereotypical reality TV addict, but still finds time for a serious documentary.

@livburke_