A woman named Maresa Friedman caused uproar on TikTok when she posted a video stating that she had been asked to give up her seat on a plane to a family she was not related to, and refused to do so.
To be fair, it’s not that deep and those family members should just respect her decision, her caption read: "I am not a villain for not moving from the seat in first class I paid full fare for, I'm also a mom so it's called PLANNING AHEAD."
A family of four asked the TikToker to swap seats, but she didn’t feel the need to do so, arguing that there were ways to request to be seated together prior to a flight.
"Why is it on everybody else to accommodate, like, if this was something different like, 'oh we're on the bus and we have to give up a seat for a couple stops,' yeah sure," Friedman said.
@maresasd I'm sorry moms and families but as a fellow mom I'm not a villain for not giving up my seat
♬ original sound - Maresa Friedman | Strategy
She stated that she had received ‘dirty looks’ from the family because she was probably seen as the ‘villian’ in the situation, which she refused to accept. Furthermore, Friedman argued that she was a mom of two as well, and that it was not an excuse for her to give up her seat.
The majority of viewers of the TikTok video greed with her. One comment read: ‘’Is this the same as grocery checkout? U have one item can I go ahead of you. I say no— we’re queuing.’’
It seems as though this is a common trend as another user added: ‘’One time I had all my little kids sitting near me (I have 6) & this couple asked me if I could swap a kid so they could sit next to their partner lol.“
Friedman concluded by saying planning was key if a family wanted to sit together when travelling, so that it did not become the next person’s problem.
"If you buy basic economy tickets, you should have zero expectations of sitting together," she concluded. Many users who agreed with Friedman said they would do the same thing in her situation. Would you give up your seat?
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