An "obese" traveller who purchased an extra seat on a plane to accommodate her size has described the moment another passenger demanded she give it up.
The airline passenger explained in a Reddit post that she'd made a double booking on the flight to ensure she would have a comfortable trip.
"I booked an extra seat so everyone can be more comfortable," she said. "I know it sucks having to pay for an extra seat, but it is what it is."
As she eased her way into the window seat, a mother approached her and told her to move over so her son could take the extra seat.
"This woman comes to my row with a boy who appeared to be about a year old," she explained.
"She told me to squeeze into one seat so her son could sit in the other. She told me, not asked."
However, the woman refused to give up the second seat as she had paid for it.
"She makes a big fuss over it, which got the flight attendant's attention," the woman added.
The mum then told the flight attendant the passenger had stolen the seat from her son.
"I showed my boarding passes, proving that I, in fact, paid for the extra seat," she explained.
"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 flight attendant eventually told the mum to put her son in her lap."
The woman said during the flight the mother was giving her cold stares.
"I got dirty looks and passive-aggressive remarks from her for the entire flight."
"I do feel a little bad because the boy looked hard to control," she admitted.
She took to the Reddit forum Am I the Asshole (AITA) to see if she was in the wrong.
Several people were quick to jump to her defence, stating the mother was in the wrong for expecting someone to give up a seat for her child.
"It's 100 percent unreasonable to ask someone who paid for their seat to give that seat up to someone who did not pay for a seat," one Reddit user commented.
"This mom is so cheap and embarrassing. Do people actually do that?" another asked.
"She didn't buy a seat for her son and assumed 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," one said.
"She's entitled, and the flight attendant should have told her that if she wanted a seat for her child, she should have purchased one," another commented.
