Woman who was filmed by furious mum after refusing to swap plane seat for crying toddler sparks online debate
A woman who was filmed on a plane after refusing to swap seats with a crying toddler has spoken out to give her side of the story.
Debates over what is and what isn't acceptable plane etiquette isn't anything new, with stories of people taking their shoes off mid-flight, fights over assigned seats and drunken behaviour going viral over the years.
And Brazilian woman Jeniffer Castro recently saw a clip of herself in this exact predicament circulating online.
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During a short 50-minute journey between the cities of Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte last December, Castro boarded the GOL Airlines flight to discover a young child was sitting in the window that she'd pre-booked.
Castro then asked the child's mother for the youngster to move out of her seat - prompting the woman to whip out her phone and begin filming the 29-year-old, saying: "I’m recording your face, this is disgusting. It’s the 21st century and people have no empathy for children."
Following the clip going viral on social media, Castro has appeared on Portuguese language podcast Cola Mais to give her side of the story - revealing she is considering taken action against the mother for sharing her face online.
"Measures are now being taken," she reportedly answered, when being asked if she'd considered legal action.
"What I went through wasn’t easy. The flight attendants could have asked me if I need anything, or if I was bothered by the passenger, but they didn’t. They stayed out of it."
LADbible Group has previously contacted GOL Airlines for comment.
Castro didn't clarify whether or not the 'measures' she was considering taking were legal or not, but went on to shed further details on what went down during the short journey.
The 29-year-old explained that she'd waited for the toddler to leave after boarding the flight, before another passenger instructed her to change seats.
"A guy across the aisle said 'Change with him, you sit next to the aisle and he’ll have your place'," she said.
After getting her assigned seat, Castro claimed the mother behaved 'very' rudely towards her while the child 'cried' throughout the entire flight.
Castro also revealed that she was thankful for the support she'd received online from people who were supportive of her decision not to swap seats.
The video had received a mixed response from viewers, however, a good proportion agreed that it's unacceptable to demand someone swap seats with you and then film them for saying no.
"She is well within her right not to move! I’m sick of self-entitled parents," one person wrote under a clip of the video on Facebook.
"Passenger didn’t asked to be filmed because of parent being entitled. Hope she wins," a second added.
Topics: Travel, Plane Etiquette
Brenna Cooper