Those of us who have traveled by plane, or even those that have just seen any movie involving a plane, can easily understand the dread of getting stuck in the center seat.
Just the thought of being wedged between two strangers, breathing stale air, battling for armrests, and the almost mandatory small talk is enough to say “You know, maybe the bus isn’t so bad.”
It is, trust me.
What if someone was unwilling to move out of the center seat?
Writer Zack Bornstein had quite the experience to reveal when he actually wanted the center seat only to find the current occupant unwilling to vacate.
While traveling with his girlfriend, Bornstein found on this leg of their trip, the couple would be placed in an aisle seat and a window seat.
Bornstein thought he would do the mystery passenger a favor and offer to switch seats with him. It would be a win/win situation.
Or, so he thought.
To his surprise, the male occupant refused to relocate to either of the offered posts. He informed the writer that he would rather stay where he was.
\u201closing my mind, just offered the aisle seat to the guy sitting between me and my gf on a flight, and he said he\u2019d rather stay in the middle seat between us\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
The internet lost their minds at Bornstein's tweet.
The tweet has had almost 200 thousand likes.
Many comments came in support of the writer.
\u201c@ZackBornstein Time to ad-lib a really long, awkward conversation with her and carry it out over/around him.\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
\u201c@ZackBornstein You\u2019re a throuple now, mazel tov\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
\u201c@ZackBornstein only one solution: end the relationship and begin one with the guy in the middle seat instead\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
\u201c@ZackBornstein you're his parents now \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\ude0c\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
While others in opposition, calling into account privilege and expectation versus reality.
\u201c@ZackBornstein I hate that couples think they can just pick and choose whomever they want to move around the plane like no buy your seat don\u2019t bother me.\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
\u201c@ZackBornstein There\u2019s a chance the guy is a nervous flyer for whom routine (e.g. the same seat on every flight) is a coping mechanism. Some therapists even recommend it.\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
\u201c@ZackBornstein Remember kids, if you want to sit next to your wife on a plane, buy two seats that are actually next to each other instead of expecting strangers to accommodate your bad planning\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
Being the Internet, nearly every comment or exchange came with some sort of humor attached to it. And many people shared their own horror stories.
\u201c@ZackBornstein A guy once refused to swap seats w/ me so I could sit w/ my 5 y/o on a 5 hour flight & then they announced no in-flight entertainment & he had to endure the whole trip next to a very dependent small child \ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (child was safe, it was weird, airline wouldn\u2019t let us choose seats)\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
\u201c@ZackBornstein I once got stuck between two bears who were a couple but they shared their food with me and made me part of their conversation\u201d— Zack Bornstein (@Zack Bornstein) 1670468945
What side do you agree with?
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC