We are always hearing stories about how terrible airline passengers can be when their seatmate is overweight, or even obese, and now one man’s solution to the problem has sparked a huge debate online.
An anonymous man took to the “Am I An A**hole” forum on Reddit to share his encounter with an overweight passenger on a recent flight, and how he solved the problem. The man described his seat seatmate as “very obese,” noting, he was “easily seeping into about 1/3 of my seat,” making the passenger “uncomfortable."
The traveler confronted his neighbor telling him "Sir, I'm sorry but this situation is not working for me, you're taking up quite a bit of my seat,” but no amount of the man shifting was going to fix the situation. The traveler says the man seemed “embarrassed” by the whole thing and offered to take another flight, which is when they brought over the fight attendant, who said that since the flight was booked the only other option would be for him to get off the plane and get a new flight.
- That’s when the uncomfortable passenger proposed a resolution to the problem. It seems the guy made his overweight seatmate an offer, suggesting he’d “put up” with him encroaching on his space if the man paid him “$150.” "That's half the cost of this flight and that would compensate me enough for the circumstances,” he explained, and surprisingly the man instantly agreed and gave him $150 in cash.
- Now, how folks feel about the resolution to the problem is what’s causing some controversy. While the overweight man said he “appreciated” the offer, the other traveler says passengers sitting behind them called him an “a**hole.” And it seems the Internet has equally mixed feelings.
- “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," one person wrote.
- Others think the man offered up a reasonable solution, with one commenter noting it let “the guy stay on the flight, have enough room to accommodate without paying for two seats, and without the embarrassment and inconvenience of having to get off and wait for the next flight that wasn't fully booked."
- Others felt the airline was to blame because they weren’t doing anything to compensate the uncomfortable passenger, even though they did think it was an issue since they were going to kick the overweight guy off the flight.
Source:Business Insider