Obese woman divides internet after refusing to give up extra seat for toddler

An obese woman has taken to Reddit to ask if she was in the wrong for refusing to give up an extra seat on a flight for a toddler.

The 34-year-old posted in the Reddit forum, "Am I the A**hole?" to get a verdict on whether her actions were justified.

To begin with, she detailed: "I 34F am obese. I’m actively working toward losing weight and I’ve made progress but I’m still obese as I’m typing this."

She travelled across the country for Christmas to see her brother and his husband and added: "because I’m fat, I booked an extra seat so everyone can be more comfortable."

"I know it sucks having to pay for an extra seat but it is what it is."

Upon arrival at the airport check-in and security "goes smoothly."

However, things took a turn when on board the flight as a mother demanded the woman (OP) to "squeeze into one seat" for her son to use the extra seat.

"This woman comes to my row with a boy who appeared to be about a year old. She told me to squeeze into one seat so her son could sit in the other," she wrote.

The mother was angry at the obese woman for not giving up the extra seat for her son, even though the woman had paid for the extra seatiStockphoto by Getty Images

"She told me, not asked. I told her no and that I paid for this seat for the extra space," and the mother was not happy about this and made a "big fuss," which got the attention of the flight attendant.

The woman continued: "She told the flight attendant I was stealing the seat from her son, then I showed my boarding passes, proving that I , in fact, paid for the extra seat."

"The flight attendant asked me if I could try to squeeze in, but I said no, that I wanted the extra seat I paid for."

"The boy, who the mom said is 18 months old was supposed to sit in her lap so he could do just that. The flight attendant eventually told the mom to put her son in her lap."

Following this exchange, the woman noted how she received "dirty looks and passive-aggressive remarks" from the mother for the "entire flight."

To conclude, the woman admitted: "I do feel a little bad because the boy looked hard to control so AITA?"

After sharing her scenario, many people have responded with their thoughts and a lot are divided on the matter.

Many sided with the woman and believed she wasn't in the a**hole because she had paid for the extra seat while the mum hadn't paid for an extra seat for her child.

One person said: "She’s TA for not buying a seat for her son and assuming someone else would give up a seat they paid for. Odds are she was hoping there’d be extra seats on the flight so she didn’t have to pay and used the lap thing as a loophole.

"Classic case of you snooze you lose."

"Absolutely 100 per cent NTA. You paid for your seat. This woman was trying to steal a free seat for her kid. If it’s too hard to have him on her lap, buy a seat for him. It’s shite that they even asked you to share or give up your seat," another person wrote.

"She had no right and the plane staff should have shut her down."

A third added: "NTA. You did exactly what you were supposed to do to accommodate your size"

"NTA, but the mom and the flight attendant absolutely are. I’d go so far as making a complaint to the airline about their employee supporting another passenger harassing you," a fourth person commented.

"WHY these flight attendants want to encourage this a**hole behaviour I will never understand.

However, some sided with the mum in this instance.

"How much room does a kid take up, seriously? Yeah the mum should've bought a seat but that doesn't mean you have to be selfish and cause two people discomfort," one person replied.

Another added: "If you are so fat that you have to have more than one seat on an airplane then you are selfish. Flights overbook all the time, especially during the holidays – how can you justify having two seats to yourself?”

Despite these comments, the majority of Redditors agreed the obese woman (OP) was not the a**hole.

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