A woman was left fuming after a fellow passenger encroached on her seat space for more than half of a three-hour flight, sparking a heated debate about airplane etiquette
The male passenger was ‘manspreading’ while he slept (stock image)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A woman has sparked a debate after calling out a passenger for ‘manspreading’ during a three-hour flight while he was asleep. Branding his behaviour as ‘inconsiderate’, she revealed how she found herself crammed into a middle seat with barely any legroom, as he repeatedly encroached on her space.
However, a number of Reddit users feel she’s being ‘too harsh’ on the man, arguing he may be completely unaware of his manspreading given that he was asleep. In her post, she wrote: “My mother was a legitimate pre-boarder on a recent flight. I accompanied her to help manage baggage and get her settled. We sat in the bulkhead so she could have more space for her braced knee.
“I sat in the middle seat to provide a buffer and keep her knee protected. The gentleman to my left took up a third of my space for more than half of a three-hour flight.
“He was asleep with headphones and didn’t respond when I tried to wake him up and ask him to move.”
In a pointed message directed at men, she called for greater self-awareness and urged them to “check their ego”, where she stated: “Women go out of their way to make others around them more comfortable and not take up literal and metaphorical space. You absolutely do not need the extra space.”
Responding to her post, one user remarked: “I’ve seen plenty of men and women take more than their fair share of space on a plane. Everyone is capable of being inconsiderate. You are not the main character.”
Another added: “You have the armrest up, lay in your bed.” Another commenter wrote: “Fair to be annoyed by this. Fair to ask, expect him to comply, and feel you shouldn’t have to ask. I’d probably wake him up. But how’s he being egotistical while asleep?”
Elsewhere, a fellow user said: “Girl, if you don’t repeatedly and passive-aggressively start stepping and kicking his foot away.”